Dylan, a little more info please, what pressure are you using, what paint and tip size, this helps others to better understand your question and provide more precise answers, like yourself I'm new to this, but I do understand is that everybody has their own little preferences, as Darren said between 25 and 35 psi is normal, but because of my lack of experience this too much for me, I work around 15 to 20 psi which allows me to work a little slower and I have more control over what I do, when I'm more confident I can increase the pressure.
It is simply a question of what works well for you, for detail work I set the paint flow to around 1 third open and fully open for covering larger areas (I do use more pressure in this case) I always tape a piece of old leftover wallpaper next to my work to try everything out, this may waste a little paint, but that's better than destroying what might be a maser piece.
My advice is simply try it out and see what makes you comfortable.