How can I be a better writer?

Just keep reading and writing. Read books ABOUT writing, join a creative writing workshop, etc. How old are you by the way? If you are fairly young, don't stress over it. Mark Twain, for example, did not write like that when he was 12 or 13. It took years and years and years of practice. I myself am an aspiring writer. I think it helps if somebody also critiques your work. I'm currently in my late teens and in university - first year - and I plan to major in English. Don't listen to those miserable people who tell you that you can't do it: listen, a few years ago I attempted my hand at poetry, and naturally it was crap, and people told me it was crap. I knew then I could never be a poet. But when I was 17, I won a writing contest in my city and got published. That's because I read a lot of Byron, Tennyson, and Shelley, and I also wrote from my heart.