I have been studying Javascript for a few months now and can read most anything I look at in other people's scripts. Some stuff I have no clue what it is so I have to look it up to know whats its doing. But Im wanting to build stuff on my own. I can make simple scripts like time, alerts, event handlers, etc. But Im wanting to build bigger things like image slideshows with fading effects and drop-down navigation bars. The problem is I have no clue where to start even though Ive studied many navigation bars, I still have no clue how to START on one by myself. How do I get going in the fast lane with Javascript to where I can do things without having to have a book by me for EVERY piece I do???
Honestly you're talking about going from the simplest of things to some of the more difficult. Cross browser drop-down navigation bars are a pain to code. Especially expandable ones, hence the popularity of scripts like Milonics, etc. I would suggest trying to tackle some more basic scripts first, try taking what you've learnt and putting it together into something a bit more complex. The only way to truly learn a language is to constantly expand your knowledge by practicing. What I find works best is to constantly learn from other people. Look at a website, if you see something interesting and want to learn how they did it, look at their code. The beauty (for some) of Javascript/HTML is that it's open. Looking at any web pages source you can see the javascript and html that they used. Between looking through free scripts and on websites that do what you want to accomplish you can start to learn how things are done. Oh and don't assume you will put the books down anytime soon, it's always useful to keep reference around for everything you do, whether that be a book, or online references (like php.net for php or the mysql docs).. that's something that even experienced coders will do.