How to not suck as a Sorcerer?

[Dr. Cliché]

Well Chill Touch is bad so don't use it.

Is there anything I can replace it with?

Frostbite is good unless the creature has high Con (or doesn't use weapon attacks)

You say that it's good yet it has been consistently awful with virtually every creature of every type making their saves without issue.

I know Chill Touch is lacklustre but at least it does something.

You didn't list your Metamagic. Those are key.

Quicken and Twin.

Also, you only have 1 2nd level spell. You should have 2 at this point.

Even though I only have 2 lv2 spell slots?

Also, in that case, what would you recommend?

Earthen Grasp is not great. Its main draw is the Restrained condition. The problem is that it is a Strength save and the creatures you most want to Restrain probably have high strength.

Yeah, I was stupid enough to believe a guide to sorcerers on this site.

A) Sorcerers are extremely weak at early levels, there's only so much you can do.

Joy.

B) Spell selection is a bit off. I would have taken mage armor over shield (you'll want that eventually though), and sleep is by level 3 already slightly obsolete. My best advice is to use it on injured monsters, and as soon as you hit level 4 swap it out for something else (mage armor would be a good pickup).

What about choices for lv2+ spells?

I mean, I can swap around shield and mage armour, but as it stands my problem is not that I'm taking too much damage but that I'm just not inflicting any damage.

Take two levels of Warlock, Hex, Eldritch Blast, and Agonizing Blast.

So the way to not suck with a sorcerer is to play a different class? Fantastic.