As a play on the advice of writing down your intentions for a dream I have in the past incorporated some concept art slideshow videos in my pre-bed night routine. It is not guaranteed but I have had some success mixing up media dream inspirations. Another good one for me has been listening to old radio sci-fi dramas (X Minus 1 is an all-time favorite), the auditory-only really helps flex my visual center to generate mental imagery/plot progressions that seem crucial to coherent dream recall.

Along the lines of recall, I know what you mean about not wanting to wake up too much to jot down the dream. Usually, I just lay in bed for 10-20min and let my mind replay as much of the dream as possible before moving or grabbing my phone to get the big points written. Sometimes I'll even make an outline with the series of events and then go back through to describe the details experienced.