How get better at being a progamer

I first began introducing myself to programming concepts two years ago, I aspired to become a great computer programmer, but I was too distracted by anime and video games to really focus as much I needed to.  So, I gradually learned more and more, and I got what I feel were "the basics" down.  Now, two years later, I am still only capable of reading other people's code and writing simple scripts (after reading other people's code).  However, I am really not sure how to get past this stage I am at in my programming skills. 

What would you suggest I try to do now to further my programming skills?  Other than "READ SICP".

>>7
And by ``from scratch" I mena from designing the hardware layer.