Since I don't want to violate someone's copyright policy or whatever, here is a link to a nice blog post with a manifesto on becoming a ninja.
It was written by the folks over at the VRT (Vulnerability Research Team).
Or How to work with , and use exploits and vulnerabilities.

VRT: How do I become a Ninja?
There is a link to a page with some insecure programming resources that start at the basic level and advance onwards.
gera's InsecureProgramming page
There is also a nice pdf file on basic exploit development.
My generic observations on this, if you have successfully setup ( install of your choice, networking, some sort of customization) your BT box (at the command line), then you could probably work with these resources. If you frequent the newbie section looking for How-To's and are struggling with the concepts presented there, then you are not ready for this. Keep trudging, diligence and a bit of sweat will pay off.

There are times when someone comes along and will find this info useful, so I wanted to share. If you are one of those people then make a post here, and/or add some more resources.