I got to 60 with a wizard and decided to start fresh with a monk, but can't seem to wrap my head around playing as one. What are some good general strategies/tips? Maybe some common pitfalls people get into as a monk, or what kind of gear I should lean towards?

My first char was a monk and I still play him much more than any other. (only one Ive cleared inferno with) I switched builds quite a few times untill I hit inferno just playing with stuff, even using a diabo for hell. I cleared all acts with absolutely 0 LoH, kinda because I couldnt afford to stack it at the time. My build and gearing strat revolved around tons of dex, a fair amount of vit and utilizing the passive OwE, getting pieces with both fire res and all res. The first time I beat diablo on inferno I had 1999 dex, 921 res all, and 31k dps. armor was around 7k, and hp around 30k. Didnt use deadly reach as I didnt like to kite much, instead used Fot to teleport in and out of the fray. He is now my farming toon as Im most comfortable with the playstyle. Been messing with a gear set that has 336gf/368mf after 5NV. I just do act 1 runs with that gear as I get blown up pretty easy sacrificing affixes for the mf/gf.

EDIT: forgot to add the main point of my build and dps is sweeping end with cyclone. Every piece that can have crit chance does and each time you crit you get a cyclone added to the fray. Pretty fun having a dozen cyclones blowing around the screen :)

Monk is great! Monk was my first character and at first I hated how much he died as I progressed but you'll soon learn how to tank and survive.

For skills, I feel like One with Everything is almost necessary. Deadly Reach with Keen Eye and Crippling Wave with Concussion not only to produce a ton of spirit, but to make myself a little more survivable. I've played around with the Mantras and, at this point, I've stopped using the Mantra of Healing with Time of Need because I luckily have my resistances up really high to where Mantra of Evasion with Hard Target makes me harder to hit and further increases my armor (which is lacking). I use Seize the Initiative to get a little bit more armor too. My last skills change every once in a while...but as of right now it's Serenity, Breath of Heaven, and Cyclone Strike. Cyclone strike is great when playing with another player so you can pull enemies off him/her.

I use a lot of IAS gear and a lot of Life on Hit gear. A running theme in my gear is +dex, +vit, +resist (the one that I'm maxing), +all resist, maybe a +life%, maybe IAS, maybe LOH. LOH and IAS can be kind of expensive paired with some other things. Crit chance might be my next thing I get but at this point +crit chance, +LOH, and +IAS is super expensive. my life is sitting at around 44k with 1.91 attacks per second and 1250 LOH. surviving in A2 inferno is going okay....when I play with my DH brother then we're pretty much invincible. as of right now I use two fist weapons and the passive The Guardians Path helps with the evasion. buffed I'm sitting at around 73% dmg red. from resists, 70% from armor, and 50% evasion.

What is the best specific resistance? There are some situations when "One with Everything" must be replaced with something to keep hero alive. I though it should be physical, but after meeting with fire-chains-motar-plagued pack have changed my mind.