beginner

I'm pretty much just starting out. I know a few chords. What do I need to know to really get started?

That all depends on what you are looking for/ what music do you want to play? Jazz, rock, heavy metal, blues, etc. Do you want to play the lead guitar, solo? I started with power chords because I like heavy metal and then I learned the scales for solos. Id say the best thing to do is to find out what is involed in the music you want to play. You say you know a few chords well thats actually a really good start for pop music most only use a few chords in the songs and never really change key, maybe once for the chorus. The best thing starting out is to learn the basic chords G,D,E,A,Am,Em,Dm,C and F with those chords under your belt you will be able to play alot of songs. When you learn the chords practise switching back and forth, chord changes, C to Em Em to A and so forth.

Learn scales. That is one of the best things you can do. All soloing is is playing in a scale. If you take a scale, and only play the notes in it, without skipping around a lot, it will sound something like a solo.