Growing/Improving as a photographer

As a photographer, I would like to learn to get creative with the photos I take. Whether it’s using a prop or just improvising, I still want to improve and understand how people can pull it off as I’ve seen all over the internet. I am not going to lie, I want to learn how to shoot in Manual mode. I don’t care if I was supposed to learn that once I picked up a camera but it does annoy me when I get told to use manual. If I don’t like or just don’t know how to use manual mode, why force it? Of course, I will learn but that will take time. I also want to be a storyteller where I can bring a photo to life by just telling a story. Posts like Humans of NY always inspire me to get either my story or someone else's story out there. I’ve always asked where do I want to go with photography. Well, I don’t really know but I like to explore. I know that’s there is boudoir, weddings, events, portraits, landscape and many other styles. Another problem I kind of came across is choosing a camera. I went with a Nikon D3300 because it was calling my name when I saw it but everyone always tells me to go for Canon. I understand opinions may vary but that’s how I approached my first camera. Maybe, in the long run, I will switch to any other camera out there but who knows. I shouldn’t be told what to do if it doesn’t make me happy but there are always options to choose from when the time is right.