Learning to be a better writer is a life’s work
Some people are looking for some quick fix, magic formula that will make them a good writer in three easy steps. Write something inspired by a writer you admire and then write something completely your own. Learning to be a better writer is not the work of a weekend or even a semester. Learning to be a better writer is a life’s work.
“I’m done learning now”
If you really are a writer then you will never consider your work done. I don’t know a professional writer who sits back and says “I’m done learning now, I’m as good as I’m going to get”. Certainly it need not take a lifetime to reach professional status but you shouldn’t make that your goal. Thinking in those terms can hold you back from becoming the best writer you can be.
You can control your progress
The truth is that you cannot control when you become a published, professional writer, but you can control your progress toward improving your writing.
You regularly deliver quality writing
For example, perhaps the reason your particular project was rejected had nothing at all to do with your writing but was in fact due to your topic, the particular needs of that publisher, or even the mood of the editor when your submission came across their desk. The truth is that you cannot control when you become a published, professional writer, but you can control your progress toward improving your writing. Believe me, the stronger your writing becomes then the easier it will be to achieve that other goal. When you reach the point that you regularly deliver quality writing then you will find a market. If you write it, the rest will come.