To be perfectly honest, as helpful as it is to read literature in a particular field: for me, it is and was definitely hands-on. I probably learned 99% of what I know in development based on the experience of just being able to live with code.
Now that I think about it, I think I'm like that too. I do most of my learning by actually trying to build/do something rather than reading a book on the topic.
But then I have to admit that it sometimes leads me to doing stuff that's not best-practices.
I have encountered the same issue, but then again! Just continue building something, this time trying to fix the poor syntax practices that you have been caught with.
To be perfectly honest, as helpful as it is to read literature in a particular field: for me, it is and was definitely hands-on. I probably learned 99% of what I know in development based on the experience of just being able to live with code.