When you wind the wire around the screw wind it clockwise so that when you tighten the screw you are also tightening the wire loop. The screw for the hot wire is supposed to be brass and the neutral is silver colored.
Sperry Instruments makes a really handy little device that you plug into your outlet. It is a little yellow box with three lights on it that indicate whether the wiring is done correctly or not. It's best not to rely on a lamp because it will still light if you reverse the hot and neutral wires and will not tell you if you got the ground right. You can also use the tester to confirm that the power is off.
Your local Home Depot or any large hardware store should have a number of DIY wiring booklets as well as the Sperry or similar tester.
Sperry Instruments makes a really handy little device that you plug into your outlet. It is a little yellow box with three lights on it that indicate whether the wiring is done correctly or not. It's best not to rely on a lamp because it will still light if you reverse the hot and neutral wires and will not tell you if you got the ground right. You can also use the tester to confirm that the power is off.
Your local Home Depot or any large hardware store should have a number of DIY wiring booklets as well as the Sperry or similar tester.