My method is a simple one, I think: I focus on the shorter words to start with.
There are 4 two-letter words here, and they’re all googleable:
Does it seem easier now, or is it still problematic?
Okay, I’ll provide two more words. To me, these two seemed to be the easiest to guess.
NUMBER THREE. Userpic is highly googleable: "In computing, an avatar (also known as a profile picture or userpic ) is a graphical representation of a user or the user’s character or persona.
NUMBER TEN. Of zero help - when googled, this phrase can be found in the second result: “of zero help, Crossword Clue.” The page shows the solution “useless.” Our square includes a synonym of “useless” - “futile.”
I had AVATAR and EL. I’ll see how I do with FUTILE. I have one more, so that might be enough.
Okay, done. Thanks!
May we see the solution then?
Here you go:
1.COFFEE (although who drinks it pale brown, I have no idea!)
3.AVATAR
4.FAMINE
6.SIRENS
7.CHAFF (a definition of the word I’ve never before encountered)
9.FRAMER (took awhile before I realized you weren’t referring to a name)
10.FUTILE
12.EGRESS
Thank you.
Coffee is a particular shade of brown too:
Now, chaff is generally used in the singular, but it does have a plural form according to wiktionary.
I wonder how I could make this better or more interesting.
I know, that’s why I wrote “although who drinks it pale brown, I have no idea!”
Correct. I should have paid better attention. 
Okay, here is my attempt to make a better crossword puzzle:
ACROSS
[1] Jazzy. [10 letters]
[2] A beast of burden. [2 letters]
[3] It can express surprise. [2 letters]
[4] Rocky. [6 letters]
[5] An evening person. [3 letters]
[6] Bill Clinton’s home state (abbr.). [2 letters]
[7] A university. [3 letters]
[8] Determined. [6 letters]
[9] A jerk. [6 letters]
[10] Whisky variety. [3 letters]
[11] Not at all. [2 letters]
[12] A certain egg (plural). [3 letters]
[13] An alternative for later. [6 letters]
[14] A mother. [2 letters]
[15] See you (abbr.). [2 letters]
[16] An affair. [10 letters]
DOWN
[1] A black and white picture. [10 letters]
[17] User experience (abbr.). [2 letters]
[18] A cost cutting measure. [2 letters]
[4] Purple Amaranth (plural). [6 letters]
[19] A British meal. [3 letters]
[20] No worries (abbr.). [2 letters]
[21] A praising poem. [3 letters]
[22] A person of color that can be any color. [6 letters]
[23] Indicating a casual striped top. [6 letters]
[24] The land of Adventure Time. [3 letters]
[25] James K. Polk’s home state (abbr.). [2 letters]
[26] An executable computer file (abbr.). [3 letters]
[27] A person of letters. [6 letters]
[28] It can express disappointment. [2 letters]
[15] To send a copy of an email. [2 letters]
[29] Non-transparent in the x-ray room. [10 letters]
Please post your solutions, questions, or reactions of any kind.
I don’t think I could do this without working on it for many days, and even then, there doesn’t seem to be a way to determine if some of the answers are right without googling. There aren’t enough ways to cross-check the answers with so many black spaces. For example: #7 across, “a university”. Even if I had the first and last letter, I’m not sure I’d be able to determine the middle one (assuming the answer is a particular university; maybe it isn’t?). English puzzles are generally done without googling, unless we’ve given up. But I’m not the best puzzle person. Others might do better. I’ll keep at it for awhile and see how it goes.