@evermind: i’m not entirely sure, but i think most people on these forums don’t make music for a living. i believe we are a big bunch of enthusiasts, and some of us are good/lucky enough to make some money from it as well. wonder if anyone on here makes music full-time without a job on the side (except for vsnares and such of course)
i don’t know how long you’ve been at it (making music), but from my own experience i found that when you keep it up, read stuff about it and keep practicing, keep making tracks (even though they are not as great as you want them to be, or even though they’re unfinished or whatever) and you’ll eventually get to a point where you are steadily getting more happy with your own creations. consider joining some competitions around here. don’t worry about your skills, people are friendly and the effort is respected and appreciated as much as the result. and i can guarantee you that it will boost your skills tremendously, especially with things like the Keith303 compo where you can check out xrns files from a skilled artist, or the Dead Dog compos where most of the time people post their xrns as well. all is just for good fun, and you’ll learn a lot.
also, read stuff even if you don’t fully understand it yet. i’ve read tons of mastering info and have only half of an idea of what it is all about, but if you keep it at it you’ll come across the same words and methods multiple times and start to get an understanding of it. try some of it out yourself on your own tracks and you’ll learn.