i just recently entered the world of growing as well, i just took some seeds that i picked from a few baggies i smoke and used the paper towel method, it works better if the water is warm, and stays warm, i used lukewarm water and kept a big mug of boiled water under the plates, while covering the whole thing with a couple towels, after a week i had so many seedlings it was ubeleivable

BTW: most of the seeds will turn out plants, so make sure to put like one to a container, i ended up dropping like 8 seeds in 5 containers, the containers were overcrowded and i ended up with only 2 plants(seperate containers)