You can navigate the timeline using J, K, and L keys.
L plays the sequence forward.
K stops playing.
J plays the sequence backward.
Tapping J or K two, three, or more times increases the playback speed by 2x, 3x, etc.
Hold down the K and L keys to play in slow motion.
Hold down the J and K keys to play in reverse slow-motion.
Tip #1 - The Fear of Cutting
For those of you that have not had to deal with cutting your favorite scene out because one reason or another - that day will come soon. Many times I have edited a great scene, the colors are perfect, lighting is great, acting is awesome, but sometimes a scene needs to be cut to continue moving the story forward. I hate cutting my favorite shots or scenes out but you have to let them go. Put them on the bonus features.
Getting your rough cut shown to a friend or fellow filmmaker is always a good idea. I cannot stress how important it is to have another set of eyes look over your rough cut before you move on to polishing your project. Show it to someone you trust will be honest with you and will challenge you to improve your work. Every-time I have shown someone my rough cuts I have always come away with more to improve upon.
As for my opinion, I think that Tip #3 - A Third Eye Never Lies is really important. You may think that your video is good. But is always good to hear other people views. So that videos can then be improved and make audience impressed. Today, I made a mistake by marking in and out at the wrong point and I did not know how to clear the points. I keep pressing delete but it just won't disappear. I noticed that by doing a right click can clear it away. Now, I am still cutting on still images and there are still many interesting things for me to discover in Final Cut Pro!=)