Don't Forget to Write

...and record.

Like mirrors, recordings never lie.

So go and get a decent digital recorder and lay down some tracks and listen. Really, listen.
Do you hear what you want to hear? Maybe something that could use a little polishing? Not only will you develop your ear to hear, working with the recorder boxes, which generally suck to use, will become easier and thus more approachable. The result you'll record more and produce stuff that sounds better.