The Folly of Familiarity

It's been said that, next to writing, the most important thing one can do to improve one's writing is to read more. To read both the familiar and unfamiliar, popular and unpopular, books of styles and genres and variations to learn from and grow from and utilize. Alas, one also finds that, if one is lacking the ability to harness any of said styles or flourishes (as present author does), then reading a variety of prose, while interesting, only seeks to reinforce the reality that achievement is impossibly fleeting.