Hey everyone! I need some help :)

I've been learning how to lucid dream for about a week now, and i've had two (semi) lucid dreams. In both of those lucid dreams, i find something weird about the dream, then my dream self does reality checks (finger through palm, breathing through nose, looking at the time). So basically it's then that i become lucid. However, the "visuals" aren't very vivid at all-- usually i just see shades of red or blue, and it's not really "life-like". I know i should shout "clarity" or something, but i could never remember to do it. Lastly, it seems that sometimes i'm in control, and sometimes i'm not. It's like my lucidity goes on and off every few minutes or so. Any tips on how to deal with these? Thanks in advance :)

Does the dream become less vivid after you become lucid? Do you feel like you are struggling to keep from waking up? This should improve as you get more practice. If it bothers you, there are lots of tricks you can use to actively try to improve the clarity. Like you already said, it can be difficult to remember to actually do any of these tricks.

Have you checked out the Dream Stabilization Tutorial?
Dream Stabilization and Clarity Tutorial - Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views

When you reality check, grab or touch something closest to you, experience the feeling, the texture.

Next time you become lucid do the same, it's like grabbing hold of the dream! grounding.

Within a few seconds or so, you will see the whole world be brought to life :)

The degree of control in LDs differes, sometimes it's great, sometimes not so much. Nothing to worry about. It will be better with experience and practice, though.

Good luck!

Thanks guys! :)