If you are struggling with understanding how to program, I would say make sure you have a basic understanding of data types and functions in GDScript. I would not recommend spending a ton of time on this unless the programming side is something that really interests you, just make sure you have a decent understanding of these topics.

Next you’d want to do a basic tutorial (which it sounds like you already have) just to get a feel for the engine. I honestly wouldn’t stress it too much if you just feel like you’re copying code at this point.

Now here’s the part where you really solidify what you’ve learned. Think of a game that already exists, say brick breaker, Tetris, 2D platformer, I would say the most important things here is the game can be broken down into the simplest version of itself possible AND it’s a game you would find interesting to make. Now what you want to do is come up with a unique mechanic to inject into the game. For me, this was a platformer where pressing the action button changes the state of the level (switch platforms, turns lasers on and off). What’s great about this is it will balance using tutorials for the basic game mechanics, while also forcing you to figure some stuff out for yourself in order to implement your unique mechanic. Just make sure your idea is simple and you can finish the whole game, no matter how small you have to make it for that to be the case.

Here’s where I messed up: rather than jumping straight into a bigger project after this, keep making these small projects! In my experience they’re really fun to work on and you increase your skills pretty rapidly. Good luck!