Yo Katie.
Experiment with absolutely every way of birthing a note. Plectrum,fingernails or whatever.
I started playing by using pick and over the years I gradually edged towards using my fingers. I love the control and the organic feel of having both hands in direct contact with the guitar,so these days I seldom use a plectrum at all,except when playing bass,because the longer nails on my right hand tend to connect with the strings anyway!
I love that sound of plucking all the notes in a chord simultaneously,it sounds so different from strumming. With nails I also find it much easier to pick out little partial chords and give them a wiggle! If you wanted to hear what that sound like,just listen to most of Knopfler's music.
The most recent song I have up in 'Finished songs',you'll also hear me use that technique in the opening bars on rhythm guitar,where it's mixed with a few single notes.
Try different materials of plectrum,some will give a sharper tone,some a softer attack,even the types of strings you use will have an effect.
My nails are quite soft and wear out easily,so when I was gigging I used acrylic nails,then filed them to shape. I don't play live now,so I can get away with just my own nails. This was a great relief,as I must have used gallons of superglue over the years. I always carried tubes of it in my guitar case. I was worse than a woman,losing a nail was a disaster!
In short,just try everything and settle on a style that grabs ya.