My Lack of Skill

[Aemaeth]

What software do you use?
If you use gimp i'd suggest you upgrade to photoshop, read around on tuts and try and remember key effects you like, read up on the staples, grunge, abstract, techno, and fractals.
Keep reading up on tuts all the time, but don't expect to become fantastic over night, it takes work and practice, remember to practice your techniques, as you will most likely forget if you don't keep them in practice.
Always upgrade your brushes also, using the same stale brushes limits things.
Also, it's not neccesary but learning to create your own brushes is good and builds overall skill a lot more than juts using someone else's.