I have a question.  Maybe I'm too much of a bloody n00b to post this, or haven't made enough posts for a while, or maybe this is just a strange mood talking. 

I just finished reading Small Favor (no, I'm not going to spoil anything) and talking to a local published author.  I have a pretty decent friend editing team, and a great english prof.  I have encouragement on all fronts.   

I have no idea what the hell right I have to write.

Okay, that makes no sense, so maybe I should clarify how I think about writing...  When I write, I don't think of it as creating, really, I think about it as... I'm a scribe for the loonatics residing in my skull.  But after reading Jim and a number of other books, some ameteur fanfiction that is just amazing when the writer doesn't even have english as a first language, I feel like a bumbling fool.  I'm utterly inarticulate.  It's like I have the same paints as the good authors do, but I'm trying to freaking fingerpaint when I need a millimeter fine brush.  I have no idea how the heck to improve.  I give myself assignments, I try to work out characters, and none of it seems to do much.  I'm an English/Psych major.  I already had to let go of one of my favorite sciences, chemistry, because the kind I like is outdated, all done by computer now.  I'm just wondering if in writing I'm going to have the same problem.

If I try to write romance, all people seem to want is smut, and a certain amount of jaded-ness seems to have killed my ability to construct gossamer webs of romance.  I fail utterly at constructing other worlds, sci-fi and fantasy is out.  Urban fantasy is my niche, and yet I can't come up with decent characters. 

I'm not going to ramble anymore, I don't even know what the hell I'm saying... Just looking for anyone in similar positions, or if anyone knows what on earth I'm rambling about.  *head/desk*

I have been pondering this as I write, and I wanted to see if any of the other writers on the board would care to toss a couple of opinions or some advice my way.

I adore writing dialogue, but I'm having some problems with the stuff around it, the little subtle actions that add to the dialogue so it isn't just "'[insert line here]' He/she/it said." over and over again. My question is how do you enhance the dialogue in third person writing without being wordy or resorting to using adverbs constantly?  Or is less more and I should really just let the dialogue speak for itself and just use "____ said," "____ replied," etc. most of the time?   

I eagerly await your thoughts, fellow writers!