There's that old saw about how you have (pick a large number) of crappy drawings to get out before you start drawing well. It's not wholly accurate in its implication that it's all smooth sailing once you've done a certain number of lousy drawings, you just start gradually getting a better ratio of good to bad. Even Judy Larson has admitted that she's had to scrape canvases and start over, and she'd been painting professionally for years!
Pencil and paper is probably the best way to start. Or pen and paper, so you don't get caught up wasting time on erasing mistakes. Draw from life before trying to draw from imagination. Start with simple objects, like cups and boxes. Things you can sit in front of and look at as you draw.
And yeah, psychologically we learn from failures. Not so much from successes. And have some links:
http://drawabox.com/http://www.proko.com/library/http://www.ctrlpaint.com/library/http://artwiki.wikidot.com/http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-draw-learnhttp://www.drawing-tutorials-online.com/Disclaimer: I used to draw. I suck at it now.