heres a few tips;
. when it comes to creating letter styles, dont look just look at other peoples styles in mags or the net.
look at typeface websites such as dafont.com and try to gain an understanding of fonts pick some existing typefaces and tweak with them and pull them apart to create your own letters instead of bitting.
. you should only look in graff mags to gain knoledge on letter allignment and decoration,such as drop shadows,3d's etc.
. dont be discouraged if you do a shit piece, you wont know what a good piece is until you have done sum shit ones.
. never buy graphotism! ever!!!!!!!!!!
. if you want to bomb, watch; STATE YOUR NAME religously