You're right at the very beginning. That's the best part.
This is the route I'd take if I were starting over tomorrow. Six steps, in order, each one needing only the step before it — and none of them assuming you know a single crochet word yet. There's no rush built into this. I spent months on the first two steps and it did me no harm whatsoever.
Six steps, in the order I'd learn them
Work down this list rather than across it. Every step is a real skill you'll keep using for as long as you crochet.
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The worries I hear from people about to begin
Not one of these is silly. I had most of them myself.
I'm left-handed. Is that going to be a problem?
Not a real one. Crochet is genuinely symmetrical — you work in the opposite direction and everything else is identical. The only nuisance is that most tutorials are filmed right-handed. Two fixes work well: mirror the video, or prop a small mirror beside your screen. Some people learn the motion right-handed first and reverse it later, once their hands understand what they're doing.
My hands ache after ten minutes. Am I doing it wrong?
You're probably gripping too hard, which nearly everyone does at first because you're concentrating so intently. Check three things in order: is your grip fighting your hand — try the other one; are you strangling the yarn, when your tension hand should guide rather than clamp; and are you working too long without a break? Twenty minutes and a stretch beats an hour of aching.
I keep having to pull it all back. Is that normal?
It isn't just normal, it's the method. I still pull back regularly after five years. Crochet's kindest quality is that undoing costs you nothing but time — the yarn comes back completely undamaged and you simply wind it up and start again. Nobody who crochets thinks of that as failure. It's editing.
There are so many stitches. Do I need to learn them all?
No. Learn single crochet properly and a great deal becomes possible. Add double crochet for height and speed and those two will carry you a long way. Every other stitch is a variation on the same few movements — yarn over, insert hook, pull through — and you'll pick them up when a pattern asks for them.
I can't tell my stitches apart. Where does the hook go?
This is almost always the yarn's fault rather than yours. Dark, fluffy or heavily textured yarn hides its own stitches and no beginner can read it. Switch to a smooth, light, plain worsted or DK and the difference is immediate — you'll suddenly see the two loops sitting at the top of each stitch, which is exactly where the hook goes.
Is it too late for me to learn?
No. This is a skill built out of repetition rather than talent, and you'll be surprised how quickly your hands take over from your brain. The only thing that really matters is that short and regular beats long and occasional — fifteen minutes on most days will take you further in a month than one long Sunday session ever will.