As for me, a beginner in all her glory, I have no clue what I'm doing. I'm sitting here in anticipation of my lathe, and my starter kit, doing the only thing that I can - asking a ton of questions and reading everything I can.
For me, when I start a new project or craft (because believe me, I go through crafts like I wear clothes) I always do a fair amount of research and ask a ton of questions. I like direct answers. "I do it THIS way" or "THIS is my favorite way." When people say "Oh, it doesn't matter, there are plenty of good ways," I don't find that very helpful because I have NO CLUE what the "plenty of good ways" are.
But once I start actually working, and turning my own projects, I like to figure things out for myself. I am very independant and would much rather figure things out on my own - than have an instructor there holding my hand every step of the way.
In my ideal world, I'd have enough money to buy a little bit of everything. I'd buy all the gorgeous acryillic blanks I could find and test all the finishing and turning methods on my own. But since I'm on a very small budget, and don't have the time to go through every single mistake that those before me have already made, I am willing to turn to the wisdom and experience of IAP members and just accept some things for fact.
A good example of this would be whether or not to use a mandrel. Almost all the instructional videos I've seen have included a mandrel and they all seem to work just fine. But when I watched John's videos with his own custom made bushings it also seemed to work very well. But I've decided to just start at square 1 with the mandrel and bushings that come with my starter get and see how I like it. After awhile I'll probably give the other method a go too.
I guess my point is what you see on this forum is no indication of what someone is doing with the information they've learned or asked. Just because someone is asking a TON of questions and seemingly trying to cut right to the top of the pen turning master's pyramid, doesn't mean they are. They may simply be gathering information for later use - or help in deciding which products to purchase and experiment with.
Anyways, I hope I haven't overstepped some invisible boundary (being a new member and turner). I tend to be very direct and outspoken, so I please don't take this personally. I just wanted to share my PoV.
And let me just add what I mean when I say very limitied budget (though it feels a bit weird to me explaining my finacial situation). My parents have been gracious enough to gift me with everything I need to get started as well as a spot in their garage/shop to use. My husband and I live in an apartment and I would not have been able to do this without them. So yes, I have everything I need to turn a pen. But I know in the future when I've used up all the materials in the starter kit, I will have to purchase things on my own. So believe me when I say that I am on a limited income/budget and that I don't have money to just throw away on figuring out which bushings to use, or which finisher to use, or what chisels to buy, or whether or not a certain thing will even work. Doubtless I will end up with countless mistakes as I learn the way - and these (like many have said) will be the starting point for figuring out a new method or two - but I'm not going to waste a beautiful piece of stabalized burl or custom cast acryillic just to TRY it. So if I can save myself some heartache, I will ask before I leap.