I had never done paper piecing - and then someone on this board started a group to do Carol Doak's 50 stars. Probably not the best beginner project, but I learned a lot doing Carol's method. Though I quickly switched to taking the paper off before sewing sections together, and that is how I do all my paper piecing now.
The nice thing about Carol's book, she gives sizes to cut the pieces, so you don't have to try to figure that out yourself.