[tw85]

One of reasons I think people who don't have training in it struggle with soldering is Hollywood's depiction of it. You typically see the actor make a quick stabbing motion with the soldering iron, as if wielding a knife. The solder will already be held against the wire or PCB pad, and in comes the stab. It's almost as comically bad as Hollywood's depictions of computer 'hacking'.

Proper order of operations:

(1) soldering iron to metal first to heat up the wire / pad / pin

(2) apply solder at junction of soldering iron and wire / pad / pin

(3) remove solder

(4) remove iron

And the most important basic tip is to make sure you have the appropriate soldering iron tip for the job. Pointy tips intended for precision work don't provide enough heat transfer for soldering larger pads or wires.