Thread: Starting to succeed- still struggling though

I couldn't really decide where to post this, so I put it in the newbie zone since I still think I'm a newbie. Anyway, I've had a few lucid dreams so far. Sometimes I'll have them about once a week, others will have a larger or shorter gap. They all last up to a minute and then fade out. I can't help but think about the fact that I'm really in my bed. Then I wake up. I'll have time to do one or two things before I wake up. My lucids are dilds and my reality check is counting my fingers if that is helpful to know. Also, I want to meet a book character and throw them a birthday party within the month. I have managed to find them twice (sometimes I can't find them/advice needed here too), but I immediately woke up. Any advice on how to prolong the dream long enough to have the birthday party even if I can't stop thinking about how I'm not actually there? I'll appreciate advice on how to increase my lucid count so I get more tries too. Thanks!