There are those, too (like me), who have been tying at fly tying for a lot of years; and to call me an amateur would be a compliment! However, I've known, and associated with, some cracker-jack fly tiers and they are without a doubt a skilled, talented bunch! Some years back I belonged to a group of obsessive fly fishing nuts where we would all gather at different campgrounds and do a group camp-flyfishing-flytying meet. I so much enjoyed those gatherings. We would put a couple of campground picnic tables together and all setup our flytying bric-a-brac ..... looked like a late 1800's blanket sewing bee! Well, that was a few years back, and I'm presently 84 and some of those guys were older then me! Needless to say, the herd has thinned out so that presently there's only about four of us - and we only meet on rare occasion.

Hate to bring up another site, but hard to beat U-tube (youtube?) where you can pull up some fly tying question and get a visual step-by-step demonstration. Also .... another determent about asking questions, however elementary, been known to generate a persnickety response every once-in-awhile.

Glad you brought the subject up!