Building, the heart of Minecraft. Whether you build a small humble home, a huge amazing castle, a beautiful piece of detailed pixel art, or maybe something else entirely... you'll want to build SOMETHING, otherwise why did you buy Minecraft? to survive? HA no seriously, you want to build, deal with it. This guide will give you SOME tips and tricks on building. it won't give you ALL the tips and tricks, but it will give you some. but, lets stop my rambling shall we? you're probably bored out of your wits listening to this and you're thinking "I just wanted some building tips, not some idiot rambling about his blog entry that he hasn't even wrote yet!" well, I don't like being called an idiot, so say you're sorry... you didn't did you? apology accepted anyway. So, some things you might want to keep in mind while building are:

• Focus on 1-3 main block types (it will make whatever you're building look much better if it has one or two main block type(s) and, say, a few windows or other little things thrown in.)
  
• When building something like a sky scraper, or something else tall hold the Shift bar, it can prevent injury, or even death!
  
• Make the ceiling at least 5 blocks above the floor of your building. (in some cases 4 is okay.)
  
• When putting in windows, it's better if they are 2x2x1 rather than 1x2x1, 2x1x1 etc. in any case, try to make the windows a little bigger than just one or two blocks.
  
• Try not to have double doors. (unless you don't mind it being a little glitchy.)
  
• Don't have just one room in whatever you're making. (unless that's part of it's charm.) try to have at least 3 rooms.
  

Some things you might want to bring with you while building are:

• Tools 1-2 each (only bring the tools that will help you destroy quickly and get back misplaced blocks. such as a pick if you're building something out of cobble stone, or an axe if you're building something out of wooden planks.)
  
• Base material 3-20 stacks (doesn't matter much, but I would be surprised if you could build something epic with less than three stacks. and by "you" I mean anyone, I'm not trying to offend anyone, but two stacks isn't a lot to work with.)
  
• Sub material 1-5 stacks (you don't NEED sub materials, but it would look nice if you had an extra block type put on say, the bottom two blocks of a house, I don't know how to explain this very well, I hope you understand what I'm trying to say... ((And if you have an idea of how to explain it, please tell me in the comments. No pressure though, you don't have to if you don't want to.))
  
• Glass 1-2 stacks (you'll want windows, right?)
  
• Glowstone/torches 1-2 stacks (you need light, don't you? ((if you answered no, then fine, stay with your fellow skeletons and zombies,(((you may like the dark, but the monsters won't like you. ((((wow four parentheses, that's gotta be some kind of world record, huh?)))))))))) (and yes, that's the right amount of parentheses, I counted.)
  
• Door 1-? (I know I said no double doors, and I still say it, but you might want a back door. and you might also have some rooms, I don't know HOW many rooms you might have, so I just put a "?".)
  
• Stairs (any material)1-3 stacks (good for roofing.)
  
• Slabs 20-64 (Slabs might be more useful then you think.)
  

Let me know if that info helps you.

~Mego2fast

Quick links to other tutorials of mine:

Mining for Blockheads
http://www.planetminecraft.com/blog/mining-for-blockheads/
Woodcutting for Blockheads
http://www.planetminecraft.com/blog/woodcutting-for-blockheads-woodcutting-tips/

Note- all this information was gained from personal experience. if any of it is incorrect let me know, as this guide is made for helping people and I don't want to give out any false info. Also if there are any grammar/spelling errors let me know, I want people to be able to understand me. Also contact me if you have any other problems with this. And feel free to give me suggestions.