Dipping my toe in Programming

Sort of. I downloaded RenPy and I’m starting to get into it because I was considering creating a visual novel of my own (or perhaps helping someone on thier project one day). Since I’m new to this sort of thing, I was wondering if anyone here had or is dabbling in that sort of thing themselves, and if you are, are there any tips or notes you’d be willing to share to assitst in my venture? Is RenPy a good start, or is there something better? Are there any pitfalls or such I should watch out for? Any help would be much apreciated, thanks lads and gents.

Cheers