[samurai7694]

Chiming in a bit late but hopefully what I offer may be of assistance:

I would suggest analyzing songs/pieces that you enjoy the music and jot down what exactly you like about it. Is it the type of scale used? Is it a certain chord, or chord progression? Is it instrumentation? Is it the mood? Lyrics? Rhythm? No such thing as being over-analytical here, and it may serve you well to understand what influences you and what ultimately may become your own voice as a composer or songwriter.

If you're into songwriting/music production, search for stems online so that you can open up a DAW (Logic, Pro Tools, etc.) and actually isolate each instrument track and get a better understanding of how it all works together to make one song.

Pace of learning is entirely unique. I had zero experience with film music last year, all the while being enrolled in a program where a few students already scored shorts or feature length films. Yet they humbly approached me because they knew I was a string player and they wanted me to proofread their scores. This opened up opportunities for me to make friends and a chance for me to ask them questions about film scoring stuff. You don't necessarily have to be an extrovert, but a sense of confidence and willingness to network is a must in this industry. And the truth is, everyone is anxious or insecure about something. We're all just winging it in a way, and the ones that succeed are the ones who actually try, and try and try again. Know what you excel at and capitalize on that, all the while refining skills that you want to improve on.

Biggest advice: don't wait on motivation. Especially not if you have clients with strict deadlines. Sometimes you may have to create art when you have a lot going on in life, and you just have to push on through no matter what. The hardest step for me has always been just opening my DAW and making those very first decisions on tempo, rhythm, melodies, etc. that I know I can't back out on once I start. But after that first step, then the anxiety sort of drops and I commit to what I've started.

In short, you get better with more experience, more knowledge, and most certainly by just listening to lots of music every day to "borrow" things from other artists if it serves your own projects (i.e. Powell or Williams scores if you want that old-school epic orchestral stuff). In a way, we're always a "student", always learning so long as we choose to. Feedback can be kind of scary but so long as people are constructive and respectful, you can certainly take your music to the next level by taking their critiques into consideration.

Keep up the grind! We're rooting for you!