Do you want to know how to make better recordings? Start by making a lot of bad (or not-quite-perfect) recordings. Yeah, I know this may sound like some tired old adage, but it's true. I know, because I've lived it.
When Elliott Smith and I opened Jackpot! Recording Studio almost 25 years ago, I was definitely a novice recordist. Those early years were somewhat frustrating at times, and I distinctly remember initially spending an inordinate amount of time attempting (luckily, sometimes succeeding) to get decent mixes off my 16-track MCI tape deck. I kept wondering why mixing was so difficult, and what I could do to make the process easier and more successful.