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All swimming strokes take time to be perfected. These descriptions may be able to help you out with some of the fine details.
Butterfly
Butterfly became a stroke in 1953. It is considered to be the hardest and most strenuous of all strokes. As far as speed goes, it is about the same speed as backstroke at the Olympic level. This stroke requires a lot of upper body strength, and can take a long time to master.
The Pull
You should stay as flat as you can all the time.
Your arms are what really propels you. Your fingers should enter first, then your wrists, then your elbows; they should enter the water in front of your body. Your arms should be almost straight at this point in the stroke.
Next, pull your arms back towards your sides until your elbows are bent at about a 90 degree angle.
At the end of the pull, move your hands outwards again to avoid hitting your body.
The Kick
The kick used for this stroke is the dolphin kick. It involves both legs kicking at the same time, starting at the hips and moving down to the toes.
The timing of the kick is what is really important. What some coaches will say is "Kick your head up, kick your head down". This means that you kick up when you go up to breathe, and kick down when your head goes back down.
The timing is what is hard about this stroke, after you do it for awhile, you will start to get the hang of it.
Other
Breathing can be done to the side, or to the front; the front being the most common method.
