One step at a time. Even so, I was overwhelmed. I called up a friend of mine and asked him how to turn my new camera on and what to do with it then. He gave me a few rules never to break. I thought I'd pass on the favor.
Short shots are useless, no matter how great they are.
Make sure your shots have a head and a tail. That means when the elephant walks out of your viewfinder, count to three before turning the camera off. Turn the camera on three seconds before he walks in. Use a tripod whenever possible. If there is so much action that you can't capture it and still be on a tripod, you'll probably be okay without one.