Justin,
I'm with Ian. Report Writer is not intuitive. I know both Ian and I see certain things as easy and quick, and for us it is. Report Writer is easy to grasp, but you really need to educate yourself so that you can do things on your own. There are many step-by-step KB articles for certain tasks, but not everything.
To get a basic understanding of Report Writer, I highly recommend you get your hands on the Training Manual and step through the labs that are included therein.
Personally, I like Report Writer for what it is. You can do far more with it than the average Joe gives it credit for, but I think going through the training manual will help a lot. I am, myself, a trainer, so perhaps I have too much emphasis on training, but the day you spend with the training manual will pay off to you over and over again.
Kind regards,
leslie