I was comfortable with HTML, in part, because I was already familiar (and liked) Wordperfect's Reveal Codes.

HTML Comparision

<p>
The text <b>in here</b> is bold.<br />
The text <span style="color:red;">in here</span> is red.<br />
<br /> marks a hard return.
</p>
Output:
The text in here is bold.
The text in here is red.
<br /> marks a hard return.