Recall question

I almost always remember at least a fragment of one dream, and this is progress since for years it has seemed like I have not been dreaming at all. My question is: does anyone have any suggestions on how to turn the fragments into full memories? I wake myself up with a vibrating cell phone several times a night, but by the time I shut the alarm off, I've forgotten most detail, especially the order of events. I've been using autosuggestion, telling myself that "I will have a dream and remember it" while I fall asleep. I've also been combining this with self hypnosis, which I am experienced with as in the past I have used it for relaxation, and stress relief.

There was this guy on the Dream recall section that adviced to start keeping a daily journal too.
He said that keeping a daily journal (in a dream journal way: write down locations, charachters, conversations...) helped him improve his memory and also his dream recall.
I'm giving it a try too, can't tell yet since it's only been 2 days.

Update: just 2 days of a daily journal worked miracles for me. I jumped from 1 fuzzy recall to 2 clear recalls + at least 2 fuzzy.
I'm definitely going to keep doing it.

Yeah, I would recommend dream journals. I'm also trying to improve my dream recalling ability, and so far keeping a journal has helped.

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Originally Posted by ohthewallflower

Yeah, I would recommend dream journals. I'm also trying to improve my dream recalling ability, and so far keeping a journal has helped.

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Yes, but I meant that you should keep a journal of your days too, not only of your dreams. It develops your long term memory and helps you tell reality from the dream, increasing awareness and all that follows.

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Originally Posted by Ippo

Yes, but I meant that you should keep a journal of your days too, not only of your dreams. It develops your long term memory and helps you tell reality from the dream, increasing awareness and all that follows.

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Yup, that too (sorry I didn't mention). I've been keeping a journal since second grade, so I'm pretty used to the routine.
It's staying lucid that's a real challenge to me.