confused..

I'm a bit confused. If I level a Pve character, can I still use that character in PVP? I don't like the idea of using a premade character. I'd rather build it up from scratch.

Yes you can. There are intro arenas out there (Ascalon, Yaks, Monastery), hold your alt key and look for an Arena Guard to gain admitance to them.

Once you can travel by ship you can go to the Battle Isles where the "real" PvP happens.

If you have an open character slot you can create a level 20 PvP toon and make use of everything you've unlocked on your account. So even though it is an instant toon it uses what you have earned plus has max armor and weapons.

ok, so I can take my Pve character into the PVP areas just as if I created a PVP toon?

Yes, but it is not advisable to take a non-maxed character into the normal PvP arenas (not level 20, not having 200 attribute points, not having max armor, etc).

Well I meant after its level 20, and its maxed out. I just like to raise my things from scratch.