I was in your shoes a few years ago. The monks who have commented all provide excellent advice...punkish shows you how to take the first steps--outline what you want your script to do before you dive in. GrandFather reveals some of Perl's magic that makes your experimentation and testing easier. The others give you some specific coding ideas. So, how can I contribute? Two thoughts:

1. I'd recommend Elements of Programming with Perl by Andrew L. Johnson. It assumes no prior programming knowledge, so you get a 2fer -- programming concepts and Perl. It's also an excellent reference you'll keep using once you've got the fundamentals down.
2. Subscribe to the Perl Beginner's list and read, read, read.