Where should you start?

I've always been focused on being a writer, but I'd really like to develop some skill with drawing too. I've never done anything with visual art before.

So my question is: where would I begin? Would it be a better idea to get a handle on simple shapes and shading first, or should I dive right in to drawing from life? Or is there some other sort of practice that's better to start off with?

Apologies if this is a dumb sort of question. I wanted to get a bit of direction before I start.

Good question! The answer differs for each person, but I'll try to answer based on my own experience.

I personally never found the "draw a sphere, cube, pyramid etc. floating in space" thing to be particularly useful. However, you probably do want to start with simple shapes - so you can sort of combine the two options, starting out by sketching simple still lifes from photographs of objects you have around. The main thing would be to get a feel for sketching out the shapes of things, the effect of perspective and how to trust one's eye rather than drawing what one thinks one sees.

Drawing from life can be difficult, though, so there's no harm in using photographs or even other drawings at first. I would suggest starting with graphite pencil only (or maybe charcoal - it's quicker, but messier and slightly difficult to control), so you may even want to use black and white photography as a reference to remove the confusion of colour when learning how to shade. I can't overstate the importance of learning how to shade well.

But there's no reason why you have to follow a regime strictly! Carry a sketchpad around and draw whatever you wish. Experiment with different media and find something that suits you. It's very important to develop those basic shading, line and shape skills with a pencil, though.