Well, you could search for the “sample mod” or “starter mod” or whatever it’s called. I personally didn’t use it, because I didn’t know it was a thing, lol. I kinda just jumped in and started copying what I saw in the base game files, changing what I needed to too make it work. You could read this old thread of mine from when I was starting to mod.
As far as tips go, I use Magica to model(Although I’m not that good[in my opinion]) and Notepad++ to do my coding in. These aren’t the only options though. You can use whatever you can get to work. You can also use Jsonlint to check for Syntax errors in your code. (Note: Does not check for spelling inconsistencies. As I discovered messing with the word Sycthe VS. Scythe).
If you ever can’t figure something out, just post about it here. Someone will always be ready to help out.
Edit: Starter mod here. It should work… I haven’t tried it.