Hello Kevinem 
To answer your questions:
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A lot of dreams will have gaps in them since they can jump around some. But, if you’re talking memory lapses rather than just jumps doing simple things like keeping a regular DJ can help. Also, maintaining awareness throughout your day about where you’ve been and how you got where you are can help fill in holes in dreams as well.
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This is one of those things that mainly takes practice, but it will help a lot if you have specific goals in mind. Also, whenever you do RC’s throughout the day, imagining things like “I’m not dreaming now, but if I was I’d do this” can help a lot with control. You might also look through some of the guides on control in the Article Space as well, namely tosxyChor/Wakerlife’s Dream Control Training Course.
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The more active you are and the longer you’re up, the more you reset your sleep pattern. Everyone’s patterns are different, so you need to play around until you find times that work for you. I personally don’t even get out of bed. I just scribble in my DJ and go right back to sleep. Others stay up for an hour because they can still fall asleep quickly. This is something we really can’t just hand you an answer on.
I hope that helps, happy lucids 