Welcome! It is definitly important to wright in your dream journal, especialy when you are first getting started. Establishing good recall is very important to your lucid dreaming. If you don't want to wright a dream in full detail wright it down in short notes and go back and put more detail in later if you can. In my opinion the best technique to learn first is DILD. Even if you do end up doing other techniques you need to know DILD. You should also try MILD and WILD and find out what combinations work best for you. Also try WBTB to give you more opertunities to wright dreams and WILD ect. It all comes down to what works for you.

As for drifting into dreams when WILDing its exactly what you want. Let the dreamscape build itself around you but make sure you remember to stay aware. Don't continue counting if it waking you back up.