I am having the same issues. I talk about dreams to dream characters and fail to DILD. I also have performed a reality check and for some reason did not have enough faith in it. I did experience a short lucid dream and felt myself awakening. I knew I was awake but kept my eyes closed. I took the opportunity to try out DEILD here, which is a technique you can apply when you feel you are waking up from a lucid dream. You keep your eyes closed as you focus on the last image or thing you remember from the lucid dream you are waking up from and you hold on to that as you fall back asleep. It's suppose to put you back into the dream and it will be easier to become lucid. This is called dream chaining.