I'm very interested

[Indica]

As a child, the one thing I can remember as a plus was lucid dreaming. I would control and remember one hundred percent of my dreams, all the time. However, as life went on and the stress of the world pushed itself onto my shoulders (as happens with most, if not all other people), I began to remember my dreams less and less. I began to just sit back and watch my dreams, as if in a movie theater instead of a movie studio.
A few months ago, I was presented with the idea of a dream diary (as I recalled my dreams as a child). Although I don't remember many of them, I remember the intensity and the freedom presented by these dreams. I have yet to start such a journal, and I want to know if my idea of one is a good idea or a bad one.
On my cellphone, I have the option to record up to 60 minutes of audio (memory aside, that is...). I was thinking, if I woke up and read a sticky note on the wall across from me that said "record dream", would I remember it as well as writing? I feel that audio recording would be easier to get down (free flow of thoughts and information; you no longer have to think about how to word the dream, you just let out anything that has to come out).
A theory I recently created in my own mind for why I do not remember my dreams any more was because of my wake-up schedule. I chronically wake up at 8am, fall back asleep, wake up at 10am, fall back asleep, and finally get up at 11am. Would an alarm to simply get me up at 8am every morning increase my ability to recall the dreams that were prominent in my REM sleep period?
Thanks for reading. I have skimmed over LD4all as well as Dreamviews and plan to read them in depth. Any replies with suggestions, tips/tricks, resources, doses on I-Doser to use (although I hear that you should not use the dose "Lucid Dreams" if you are a beginner to the sport, if you will). I feel that I would have a more relaxed sense of sleep if I dosed myself with the "Opium" or similar dose.
- Indica

[cameraboirzu]

The point of a dream diary is so that your brain starts to remember that if its real or not it will be recorded. I'm sure it will work, and if it doesnt, well, then switch.

Also try reality checks.