For many people, Survival is the primary mode in Minecraft. It includes a variety of gameplay mechanics, including hunger, status effects, equipment, multiple crafting stations, necessity for sleep, and so on.

There are tons of guides and pages on Survival Mode available on the Web, but the most useful to zlg make it here. They're not listed in any particular order, at least for now.

You need a Safe Zone in order to safely build and design things. Depending on the biome you're in, this may be achievable with just laying down a bunch of torches and letting nature do the rest.

Torches emit a light level of 14. This means you need to place torches no more than 5 blocks diagonally between them in order to create an efficient "blanket of light" that is light level 7 or higher. That's enough to prevent hostile mobs from appearing!

Add diagram.

One of the easiest things to do when you first start is to build a base far away from your starting spawn point, then forget how to get to your base from the original spawn point, ruining all of your prior work!

When you first start, try to put together some torches and a simple tower of an uncommon or odd looking block will do the job. I use cobblestone or planks, about 8-10 blocks high, to mark it. I also make a sign that points in the direction of where my base is, so I never get lost from spawn.

When you come back later with more resources, you can decorate it, or even protect it so anyone who spawns is safe!