Nobody on this thread has mentioned one of the most important parts of soldering - FLUX

Flux removes oxidation from both the iron and the parts to be soldered, helping the solder to stick to these parts. In addition, it lowers the melting point of the solder, allowing it to flow more freely at a lower temperature.

The amount of flux in typical rosin-core solder is not sufficient to acheive this flow-enhancing effect. I cannot count how many times I melted wire insulation and created hundreds of little silver beads on my work surface before I learned to re-flux my iron between joints and to dip my parts into flux or brush it on before tinning them.

Make sure to have croosflow ventilation at the very least, as the acidic vapors from the flux are not nicd to your lungs.