Hello Thewalrus and welcome to Dreamviews

Advise for you.

DONT try to LD until you have made a habit of doing frequent RC's and have improved your dream recall as already suggested.
Trying to LD and failing will induce anxiety, frustration and disappointment, all of which will inhibit your likelihood of successfully achieving a LD.

Entering a LD through WILD requires you to be in a REM mode of sleep which only happens when you are not really tired or sleepy like after you have had a good sleep or during an afternoon nap when you only doze. Only the very experienced can do it before normal sleep.

My advise to newbies has always been to spend at least two weeks devoted to the basics of dream recall improvement and making RC's a habit. Dont try to LD, let it come to you which it will when you do a RC during a dream. Once you have achieved that, then you can try out different techniques..

Happy to answer your questions or explain my reasoning. PM me if you like.

Best wishes and again, Welcome to Dreamworld.