welcome to the forums abyss
just to add to the suggestions, the first thing you should do when you want to start editing for real is download the comref and the UCR (unofficial command reference) from the editor's depot. These are going to be invaluable, and all the commands available you will find there along with descriptions
oh, and when you're getting serious, try a tutorial first. Johan Gustavsson's for instance is excellent, the very one that got me started
we've all been newbies, so don't be afraid to ask when you run into trouble. Ahem. Anyhow, welcome!
Wolfrug out.