[But]

Those half-asleep states are the most interesting. When I'm not tired enough to fall asleep what sometimes works is that I try to think of a word. Doesn't matter what, just something the subconscious comes up with. Then the next one. They turn into sentence fragments. When I manage to keep this going and not interrupt it by worrying about something in reality, I start feeling drowsy and there is some imagery. Sometimes it works, but sometimes exactly at the moment when I'm losing control and slipping into the dream there is something like a knock on the door. Then I'm wide awake, I realize there's no one there and I have to start all over.

The other phase is getting out of the dream. There was one recently where I was lucid and came so close to being awake that I could feel myself lying in bed and check that I was lying comfortably while the dream was still going on. I was sure that I could move my limbs any time I wanted which would then stop the rest of it.