Well, if you want to cut loose with evocation, you could try:

EVOCATION IS THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING
NO IDEA HOW TO USE MY SWORD
OVERKILL MUCH?
OVERCONFIDENCE
NOT A TEAM PLAYER
A BIT TOO CAUTIOUS.

Heh.  Yes... that would certainly make for a crazy evocator, but it wouldn't be that useful for an investigation-style game, which is really what I'm looking for.

Why not fill your last aspect with one that rewards unwise combat tactics? Like EVOCATION IS TOO EASY, which would compel you to fight opponents that you could magically one-shot with your sword.

That's a good suggestion, and I will see if I can think of something along those lines.  On the other hand, what's the point of playing a Wizard if you can't cut loose with Evocation?

I've been playing in a Dresden game for a few sessions now, but I've been having trouble finding ways to Self-Compel aspects for Fate points.  Invoking aspects has been easy, but, even though I have ideas about when my aspects would be compelled, they don't seem to come up in play at all.  I was wondering if anyone had general or specific advice about how to compel aspects more often in play.  (Or how to modify Aspects to make them easier to compel.)

In my specific case, my aspects are:

• New Warden In Town
• Somebody Has To Do It
• Knowledge Is Power
• Been Around A Long Time
• Stubborn Old Mule
• Needs Of The Many Outweigh The Few
• (plus one more I plan to replace anyway)

In theory, I expected to compel local magical practicioners to be scared and/or suspicious of me.  I expected local faces to tell me to stay out of their business, which would compel me to dig in my heels and mess with their business.  I expected to compel unexpected backstories and possibly owed favors to local Fae Courts.  And I expected to compel myself to make difficult choices, sacrificing a few innocent souls for the Greater Good.

In practice, our sessions have been more "investigate-y".  Something bad has happened, and we have to fix it.  Most of the people we talk to are not in a position of power (so they can't tell me to back off), and by the time we actually meet anyone of power, it's usually time to start slinging spells rather than discuss our backstories.

In short, I seem to have built a character for a supernatural "Leverage" or "Burn Notice" ("defeat the villain with clever moves and countermoves"), but I seem to be playing a game of supernatural "CSI" ("follow the leads to discover the villain").

Any advice on how to modify my playstyle or aspects to earn Fate points easier?  Has anyone else had similar problems, where their choice of Aspects didn't match up with the style of the game they were in?

Quick update for clarity
As mentioned later in the thread, I'm not looking for ways to compel these specific Aspects.  I'm just mentioning them as a specific example to demonstrate the problem.

What I'm looking for is generic advice for how a Player can modify either their character or their playstyle in order to accomodate the story that the GM wants to tell.  There is already tons of advice for how the GM can modify their story to suit the players, but I'm interested in the opposite.  What can I do to make the game run more smoothly?

I am having trouble damaging my players in combat.  I rarely get anything past a minor consequence or 2 and a few physical stress boxes checked.  I am filling all the mages mental stress boxes, but they manage to end combat right about that time.  My physical characters generally make it though combat with a few stress boxes.

I wanted to here how other GM/ST's experiences have been.

Are you trying to stack maneuvers?  As far as I know, the best way to land a powerful consequence is to have several attackers perform a maneuver to place an aspect on the target, then let one attacker free-tag all those aspects.

Monster A throws dirt into the targets's face (Weapons vs. Athletics maneuver to add "Sand In The Eyes" aspect to the target)
Monster B knocks over a tower of crates (Might declaration to add "Unsure Footing" aspect to the scene)
Monster C takes both free tags for a +4 to its next attack vs the target

I've run my game for a few sessions now and I think the players like it.  The only thing I wish would happen is that my players to take some more narrative control.  They use their Fate Points mostly to enhance rolls, but haven't been making any declarations or anything.  I think it's from years of playing other games (we do White Wolf games, mostly) and I'm not sure how to encourage them to take the reins more.

Suggestions?

Do you mean "narrative control" specifically in regards to conflicts, or do you mean in regards to the overall plot?  Do you want the players to suggest villains, NPCs, plot points, etc, or are you mainly looking for them to add more flavor to each scene?

Why not try asking them questions up front at the start of a conflict?
- "Okay, the vampires attack you.  You're in the middle of a library, so give me some scene aspects.  If you think of more during the conflict, go ahead and declare them."
- "The noise from your fight is drawing attention.  A big ogre lumbers up the stairs, sees a battle in progress, and smiles.  What's her name and what are some of her aspects?"

Once they know you expect creativity from them all the time, they might loosen up and start adding declarations on their own (especially if you give out Fate points for particularly cool ideas).

He's not a mortal caster though, so the laws don't apply to him.

Well, if I were going to portray him in DFRPG, he'd be a mortal spell-casting, jolly old, sixth-law-breaking vigilante Wizard with some highly specialized powers.  The Wardens would all want him neutralized for messing with the flow of time, but he can't seem to be killed, and no spell or prison can hold him.  Plus it's tough to fight a guy who's just so darn nice!

That's probably not what the OP is looking for in this case...

I think there should be a chance for failure.  I think It says something about having to gather power, so to refuel a spell you still have to re-gather your power, sense it is not one of our routs, your just empowering a rout.  Now it should be easier, your just looking to up the time 1 or 2 or 3 shifts that should be easy for any wizard.

Generally, yes.  But my specific question is whether or not you can assign one of your Rote spells to be a "prolong spell", which would eliminate the chance of failure.  So, in this case, it would be one of your rotes (assuming that it is allowed).