The quintessential beginner’s question for anything technical goes something like this:

I’ve finished this highly recommended tutorial. What do I do now? Where’s the next level tutorial that will make me an expert?

If you spend any time in a public forum as an experienced technical person, you see this exact question constantly. It’s a head scratcher.

To the beginners: Nobody can hold your hand.

Let’s draw a parallel, shall we? When you begin a game, it walks you through the basics and then sends you on your way. Why? There’s so much strategy in every non simple game, why wouldn’t the creators walk you through every intricacy of it? Because:

1. You cannot be taught to think through a problem like an expert. That thought process only comes from time and practice.
2. Failing teaches you more than success.
3. You probably wouldn’t pay attention anyway because there’s no payoff.

You don’t feel a grand sense of pride from following a tutorial because it isn’t your work. You don’t feel a sense of mastery because it isn’t your thought process.

The key is time and effort.

(This mildly ranty post is the result of seeing one too many questions about how to become a web designer on the CSS subreddit.)