Sculpting Best way to begin sculpting?

I don't think there is a "best way", really. Or rather, there is, but what it is depends on so many factors that one persons, or even one projects "best" is not going to be the same as another.

One thing to take into consideration is what medium you will be working in and based on that, what techniques you will be using. The size of the doll also matter, as some materials work best within a certain range of mass or thickness,
Air dry clays will need time to dry and the larger the piece, the longer it takes.
Polymer clay needs to be baked and the larger the piece, the harder it is to fit it into the oven and the larger the risk of uneven baking.
Epoxy clay/putty has a very limited work time, so regardless of if your doll is in one piece or not, you can still only work on a limited part at a time.
Wax based modeling clays deforms easily when cut, so there, sculpting in one piece and then make a temporary cast in some other material before cutting is worth considering.
There are many other possible doll making materials out there as well, including digital sculpting and 3D printing.

One more thing to consider is that just because the parts are separated does not mean that you can't fit them together temporarily while sculpting. An example from my own experience: I often work in polymer clay and it can be tricky to cut it nicely once baked. So, lets say I am working on a leg and need to add a layer around the knee and I want the pieces to still have a nice outline. I put a wooden dowel or similar through the stringing channel to fix the parts in place, sculpt over that and do the cut in the final layer just before baking.

Advice on the fear of messing something up: I have never made a doll that didn't need at least a couple of reworks to the joints before they worked anyway. Be prepared to have to redo and retry things as you go.
If you've made it once, you can make it again! Worst case scenario, just make a new piece.
I have buckets of failed parts from my early doll making days, it's just not reasonable to expect thing to always work out first try and that means that every now and then, you have to be ok with the idea of redoing and fixing fails.

Best of luck!

 

I feel this question so much. Aside from figuring out joints, the hardest part for me was just... starting!

I agree that there’s no right way, and Lilith really covered most everything. All I can really do is tell you how I do it and hope some piece of it speaks to you.

I tend to spend ages in the design phase, fussing with drawings for months until I think I’ve captured it. I need the security of the strong concept sketches before I feel comfortable touching the clay, even though usually everything changes once I start sculpting.

Best of luck to you!! Don’t be afraid of messing up - there is nothing you can mess up so badly it can’t be redone