The best way to learn things is by doing, knowing what you're doing and what you're aiming for also helps.
It's not that difficult, but you must learn the fundamentals before you're going to get a perfect shaving edge. We've all been there. I also believe in going all in from the start if your eventual goal is to hone razors from bevel set to finish.
Get a good set of hones and it's all you'll ever need. For ease of use a synthetic line-up is perfect for predictability and ease of use. Also tape, it prevents that you mess up too badly; so simple, so effective.
Aside from all the help on here and the wiki and the guides.
The things that were a real eye opener for me were:
- learning the "correct amount" of pressure or rather lack thereof; for shaving, stropping and honing
with honing, you never need a lot of pressure; with shaving, you pretty much only shave with the weight of the blade. The muscle memory and the habit you will eventually create.
Perfect practice makes perfect.
- finding a good finishing stone for you personally
while a bevel set is key, I find a good finishing stone to do a lot for me personally, but that is only after you've done a perfect bevel set and refinement.
It wasn't until I had a boxed Thuringer that gave me killer smooth and sharp edges that I finally had that AHA moment for what an edge could be.
For me everything else was done right in the progression, except I needed a finisher that suited me. A 20K is expensive but also top notch. I tried other synthetics and naturals, but never got that right feeling until I found a stone that worked for me.
- edge assessment and probing
Learning what an edge should look and feel like in every step of the way is key, without any irregularities.
Once you got that mastered it's easy peasy.
(Something else, get a diamond plate, it's good for lapping your stones and to correct heels which I find myself doing rather often)