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I think that the pick you choose is a completely personal thing. You should go to to your local guitar shop and grab one of each. Just try them all until you find one you love. Personally, I like a stubby for palm muting, and I stay away from thumb picks (even while finger picking). I pretty much use Dunlop 73mm for the most part. I like a thick pick because thin ones just sound like paper to me. As far as your strumming goes... Someone told me when I first started learning (about 10 years ago) that I should just pop in a CD and forget about chords for a second. Hold your hand over the neck to mute the strings and just focus on your strum for a little while during your practice time. Really listen to what's going on and pay attention to what your hand is doing. Take time to listen to the drums and bass. After you have done this, try to get your hands on some drum tracks. Just play around with it, either switching chords, or just hold off on that for a bit until you feel confident. (By the way, I'm not suggesting that you stop learning and practicing chords). You should go for the finger picking thing thing if you want. It is good to be well rounded. A cool technique I learned a few years ago is something called hybrid picking. You hold the pick between your thumb and index finger and use the other three fingers for finger picking. This has an awesome sound because the pick is used on the lower notes making them more audible. You can also easily switch from a picking pattern to a strum since you are already holding the pick. It takes a little practice, but it is a seamless transition. Good luck!