Here’s something to think about …
“If they used to do this thing successfully with razor-blades and cellophane tape, computers must not really have too much to do with it.”
Choose any editing program that you can easily get your hands on. (I happen to like “Final Cut Express,” and believe it or not, it’s still what I use to do what I do.) Then… edit something.
Go find some little scrap of something, say on YouTube. Anywhere you can find a source of material, no matter how crappy. Then, set yourself a goal. For example, take a two-minute clip that shows some progression of events, and try to figure out … say … three ways to re-cut the thing so that the progression, and maybe the entire goal of the piece, is reversed.
Your self-set goal could be anything at all. Probably, no one’s going to see the finished product but you. What’s important here is, primarily, the thought process, and only secondarily, acquiring a working familiarity with the tools. You can naturally predict that “the tool” will clamor for your attention (and waste a lot of your time), therefore expect that. It’s okay… you are learning.
So, spend the next six weeks doing that, over and over again. Keep everything, and try to compare it (favorably or unfavorably) to nothing. Take whatever demo-clips come with the product and actually do them.
This is called "working toward a ‘demo reel.’ " You can’t start out with a “demo reel” as your goal, although when you finally do have a useable reel, you will know, and anyone who views your reel will know also. (You’ll probably think that you’ve got a “demo” about one-third of the way before you actually do.) Just keep slicing up digital film and gluing it back together again.
Once you’ve got some “chops,” the process of learning the particular tool that is used in a particular setting will be … a long way from now, and relatively easy. You really can’t predict what that tool will be, because you really can’t predict at this point what the job will be. So, don’t worry about it. Just keep slicing up digital film and gluing it back together again. The good news is, you really can’t cut your fingertips anymore.