@Totts: I'll give you two keywords for the beginning artist that are very important when drawing objects (even though they are not necessarily the first things you have to learn. I did 2 years of art at school, and the first few lessons we did was draw lines, straight curved, whatnot, but 'planned lines' that were nice, straight and regular.) Those keywords are [b]ratios[/b] and [b]perspective[/b]. Both of these form the basics of pretty much every drawing out there, and are two concepts you will never really 'master'. I won't either.It's very important when drawing objects that before or rather during the breakdown in simple shapes as Sherlock suggested, that you measure the ratios of said simple shaped compared to the object itself. (What is the lenght of this object compared to its width? Howmany times does the width fit inside the lenght?) Once you have these basic shapes right, your drawings will look a whole lot better. 

A good technique is holding your arm out when your thumb up, pencil in hand, and use your pencil and thumb to measure and compare certain lenghts of an object. Make sure to always measure in the same way though (outstretched arm, straight back, w/e) and to take at least 2.5 times the object's size in distance to yourself if possible since otherwise you probably can't measure most of the object with your arm in front of you and you'll have to move your arm to measure it, making your measuring inaccurate.

I'm basically blurting out random tips and advices I remember from drawing courses. I hope it's worth anything to you!