I've been diving into programming for a while now, watching tutorials and going through examples, and everything seems clear while I'm learning. But when I sit down to code something on my own, I completely freeze up! It's like my brain shuts down, and I just stare at the screen, unsure of how to start. I get the concepts—like if statements, for loops, and functions—but putting it all together feels impossible. It's really frustrating because I genuinely enjoy programming, but this mental block is starting to wear me down.
2 Answers
You're likely experiencing what's called the "tutorial trap." You pick up knowledge by watching, but when it's your turn to code, you realize you don’t actually know how to apply it. The best fix is to start building tiny projects that interest you, no matter how silly, and work your way up from there. Don’t worry about making mistakes—it's part of the fun!
It might sound odd, but sometimes you just have to *stop watching tutorials*—seriously! Tutorials can give you a false sense of fluency. Actually doing the work is where you hit the wall. Try breaking down problems on paper first before diving into code. Analyze, design, and plan your approach without typing a single line. Once you've got a clear picture, you can translate that into code. Start with smaller projects too, like creating simple functions, then build up from there.
Thanks for the tips! I think this will really help me get out of that block.
But how do you even start learning without tutorials? Where do you get the foundation from?