So the last couple of days I've been reading up on lucid dreaming (I read all the tutorials) and trying to have one. I just have a few questions.

Is a dream journal really necessary? I know it's supposed to help with dream recall and dream signs, but I'm not sure if these couple of benefits are worth the hassle. I already have pretty good recall (I usually remember 1 dream per night accurately). And I don't see why recognizing a couple of your personal dream signs would be that useful.

What method would you recommend to a beginner? It seems like simple reality checks are usually recommended for beginners, but I've seen some people say that they've been doing reality checks for months without a LD. It seems like WILD would be the best method if possible because you're basically guaranteed to have a LD if done right. But how hard is this method and can beginners do it?