I started in a new world on the coastline of small forest, this was in 1.4, and I had no idea what to do. I punched a lot of dirt and sand. Finally I punched some wood. I went around punching down a lot of trees until I hit the "E" button. "Oooh," I thought, "Let's try crafting!"
I crafted sticks and I would have kept on going until I ran out of wood.
Then Ipunced more trees until a skeleton shot me.
I ran (actually walked in a panic, there was no sprint yet)
I spent the night on the top of a tree.
It was then I realised I should probably check if there were any fan wikis on the internet.