1) Don't think that narrative films are the only way to go. There's narratives, commercials, documentaries, sports videos, music videos, etc. You can flex your directing muscles just as much going into the local music scene and offering to shoot some free music videos for people. Trust me, you'll have takers, and it'll give you an opportunity to learn a lot without getting muddled by a script and traditional filmmaking conventions.
2) If you do decide to shoot narrative, keep it under 5 minutes for your first one. Don't go about shooting a 20 minute epic (or God forbid, a feature) right off the bat. Not only does 5 minutes let you spend more time on each aspect without stretching yourself thin, but there's a much bigger market for 5 minute films over 20 minute ones
3) STORY IS EVERYTHING. It doesn't matter how many shots it has in it or how high of a resolution you shoot it in if it doesn't have a good story. You could easily shoot a movie on your camera phone that can win festivals. One of the last festivals I was at, the film that won its category (up against some GOOD QUALITY films) was a woman who just shot her dog with a camera phone for a day and put voices behind it. But I watched the thing, it was freaking HILARIOUS and had us all rolling in our seats with laughter.
4) JUST MAKE MOVIES. It's all practice. It took me 50 (yes, FIFTY!) tries before I was REALLY happy with a movie that I made. You learn so much every time, about every aspect of production. I learned more on my first film set than in all four years of class in film school. Reading will only get you so far. Gotta learn how to speak to an audience.
I don't use it so I can't endorse it or tell you exactly what the SOP is there, but you might want to check out
www.simplyscripts.com for a starting point.
Anyway, I'm interested to hear what you come up with to get yourself out of this rut!