I play on emporer all the time. Wonder spamming is viable.
Here's the deal.
1. Study up on a few generic, solid, proven build orders for early game. This will help.
2. Before you start, pick an opening strategy. Figure out which wonders are key to your success, and which are secondary. Figure out a good beline for the wonders that you need. Understand that teching for key science and production buildings will probably help you get your goal.
For example, if i am trying for max growth, i always build a granery before i build the temple of artemis, and i build a library before i start on the hanging gardens.
3. Work at figuring out when to focus foood, and when to focus production. Try to understand how your worker opperates, and which tiles to improve first. This will help.
Using these three steps, you can get any wonder in the game except one. I still havnt been able to figure out how to consistantly get chiken itzka. Now, keep in mind i said any wonder, not every wonder. You will probably not get any good trifectas of any age, especially past renaisance. For example, getting the library, the temple, and the colossus is probably out of reach. I have only recently figured out a good strat for getting more than one of the three key renaisance wonders (chapel, tower, and palace).