I'm not very good at the game yet but here are a few other tips for gaining a few points here and there... sometimes it makes sense to go for the less than flawless scores.
It doesn't improve your score much but if you just messed up your flawless multiplier and a bunch of fireworks come up that you can't get flawless on, rather than skip them, click on them anyway until you get another flawless. Points are points. Once you get another flawless, only go for flawless.
Along the same idea, if you are totally confused at the end of a round when a bunch of different fireworks are launched and you have no hope of getting a flawless, consider using explode all. I end up getting at least some "ok" points instead of the zero I would have gotten if I had tried to explode the fireworks individually. I do try to match one of the fireworks first if I can but even when I haven't matched any, I have never gotten a screenfull of "oops" scores.
If you don't get flawless on the first firework of the round and can't get flawless on the second firework, go for awesome on the second firework rather than skip it unless that prevents you from getting flawless on the third firework.
None of these tips will give you a great score but they can add a few points to your score when you have no hope of getting a flawless. On the other hand it's often better to skip a firework to be certain you will get a flawless on the next firework so use your best judgement. I finished in second place with eight points less than the winner. If I had used these simple tips, I could have finished in first! Sadly, I hadn't mastered the game enough to have figured out these little tips before I played that match.