Does anyone have any tips for the most effective way to lucid dream? I am very much a beginner and would love as much knowledge as possible!

The best answer is that the most effective way for you is not necessarily the most effective way for the rest of us. With lucid dreaming, you have to experiment with the common practices to find what works for you the best, so you can then alter that practice enough to make it custom to you and what you need. That said, personally I have found myself taking a more simplistic approach, recently. The community is big on induction techniques, but as a DILD lucid dreamer, I find what I do during the day to be of the most importance. I do reality checks, very thorough ones (the nose pinch and finger counting check in succession many times, with seriousness), I meditate at least 10 minutes a day, I try to pay attention to spot any inconsistencies and lapses in my own perceptions (see something out of the corner of your eye? think you saw something you didn't? hear something that no one else did?-- time to RC). Otherwise, I dedicate to writing my dreams down by hand in the morning, no shortcuts, just taking the 30-45 minutes to be thorough. I avoid substances that hinder my dreaming, though I do have a glass or two of wine in the evening, but stop drinking 2 or so hours before bed. For me, it's about awareness and being present and any time that lapses and I realize it, I call attention to it and RC. I do occasionally do a personally adapted version of MILD, but the majority of my work is during the day. I make sure I get enough sleep at night to allow the space for dreams. This is just me, you might find yourself a WILD lucid dreamer at heart, in which case your practice will end up differently than mine. Always experiment for yourself, as there is no one size fits all with lucid dreaming.