Let us start at the very beginning 

You have the clothes, you have the jewelry, you have the books. You may have the tarot cards, runes. You have the shiny things from eBay but even though you have read the books you have no clue HOW to do it. So you put it on a shelf. In a draw. In the loft. Or leave all out on the table "to prove how pagan you are". It may stay that way years. Some weird stuff might happen but you, you don't change.
This is how 90 percent of my students turn up. Sadly one or two leave that way too. They are often under the illusion that I am going to "transform" them, magically into powerful sorcerers, and witches. Some are disappointing. Some get mad. Some quit. Some yell. Some do all of the above. Some don't.
You see I give them homework. To do every day. They smile at first, then tut and roll their eyes, then suck their teeth. The good ones, do it...eventually. I make them look long and hard at themselves. I make them look at their thoughts and actions. I get them to meditate. They fidget. They squirm. They procrastinate. 

"Wave the wand Lucy."

"I'm bored."

"This is pointless."

"I KNOW what I am doing!"

I smile, I wince. I nod. I ask tough questions like: how does that apply in a ritual context?
What did that teach you?
What was different about that day/rite/circle?
I try not to make it boring but the truth is being GOOD at magick takes hard work. You want to hold a tune, copy someone on the radio. You want to do better and kick ass at karaoke, watch some video's on Youtube. You want to go on stage for real, you need someone to teach you. To strip away the fake pretense of sounding like someone else, to make sure you don't need to get drunk to "sound amazing", to lie you down and make you feel like an ass and bounce a ball on your belly. It seems stupid, and feels embarrassing and pointless but it is vital you know how and where to breath from. Magick is the same.
I try and keep it fun and playful but at the end of the day the power of the magick doesn't come from me. It comes from you. It won't be like my magick. It will be, like your voice, haunting and beautiful and unique when you find it. To do that you need to sit down and do the work. Every day. Every. Day. Not because I say so. I do, but because if you want to be good at anything (and why do anything to suck at it) you have to practice. You have to sit down and learn to breathe into the belly. Let go of thoughts. Hold things within your mind. Hold a thought or feeling all day long. These mental muscles of concentration are ones we are very rarely taught to use. Once you can then meditation can begin.
None of this is particularly religious, at least not to begin with, I move onto Goddess work a little later. Firstly you have to find yourself, just a little. Shed some patterns that work against you. Find a little peace, gratitude, joy. Find how to surrender.
I am not a perfect person, not an easy teacher but sometimes I take a look around at some folks out their preaching their way and know I have forgotten more than they claim to know. That they are speaking because they can not listen. 
I try not to waste my time or energy thinking about them. I try and focus on the people I help. 
I could fill books with spells. I could write a dozen a day. What I wrote in my book was so much more important, so much more powerful. I wrote how to make yourself powerful (not perfect) and to focus that innate power to change the world. 
I do not want to complain about the darkness. I will just be a light.