Questions about my first active WILD attempt

[CreativeInChaos]

So I had my daily map today, and I'm curious about some of the things I felt. First off, I think other than the fact I didn't get into a dream state, it went pretty well. I got to my normal hypnagogic hallucinations fairly quickly, then went a bit beyond. In total, I was laying there for around an hour. My mind was wandering constantly, I had a hard time staying focused on my mantra, but I could still stay aware. I could feel my body kind of getting tighter, and then after fifteen minutes, it went completely numb. My eyesight went nearly totally white. I could make objects kind of shimmer in the white if I focused on it. I couldn't hear a thing. My dog was in the room with me and normally he snores, but I couldn't hear a single thing, including the blood rushing in my head. I started trying to form a dreamscape in the whiteness, but every time I tried, I could feel my eyes rapidly moving beneath my eyelids, and anytime I started to actually see something clearly, it just faded and went back to the white. Eventually my arm started feeling extremely sore for no reason (It was in my normal sleeping position, so no clue what happened) and after a few minutes of that I couldn't stand it and had to get up. Obviously I did my normal reality checks, and honestly for a few seconds before that, I thought I was dreaming. Everything seemed... more there than normal Was I close? If I was close, what should I do to continue it, and actually get into a dream? Is the soreness something that happens? or did I do something wrong? Aside from the soreness, was I doing things correctly? I wasn't sure if attempting to create things was backtracking or moving forward

[greyswanson]

The soreness could have come from sleeping on your side or maybe creating a thought in your mind that something might go wrong, and then pain popped up somewhere. Whenever I doubt myself, usually a small pain in my head or somewhere on my body pops up to bring that bad thought to life. One technique I find extremely helpful is to imagine I'm walking in an open field. Movement helps your mind picture where you're going and helps you become enveloped in an actual scene. It might also be helpful to have a planned location to start your dream so you know exactly what to picture in that white space. You do sound close though. Best of luck!