If I’ve got time to sit around and feed the fire I’ll just start with a fire-lighter (made from compressed sawdust) and small kindling, and add progressively bigger kindling until there’s enough heat to get a small-medium lump of split wood going. Playing with fire is always satisfying 😀
Most days I use the “top down” method though. Start with two smallish bits of split log on the ash bed. Each one is maybe 5 x 10 cm in cross section (not that they’re regular shapes, but about the same cross-sectional area as a 5 x 10 cm rectangle, give or take), and ideally something soft like pine or wattle that gets going easily.
Then I’ll add a layer or two of smaller bits at 90 degrees, starting a lattice a bit like teasel’s kindling video up there ^. These will be maybe half the cross-section of the bottom layer. Then another lattice layer or two using small kindling – finger-size stuff really, usually pine plank offcuts from local wood yards that I’ve split myself.
I normally then add a fire-lighter (I’m with mikewsmith, we don’t have any newspaper and packaging paper/card is generally quite hard to keep alight. Maybe it’s a southern hemisphere thing) and a couple of bits of small kindling on top.
You can add more medium and small layers so that the top of the pile is right at the top of the firebox.
You just light the fire-lighter, close the door, set the draw to maximum and walk away. The kindling burns fast and hot right at the top of the firebox, which does two things: it generates a load of heat quickly which rises up the flue, starting a solid draw and pulling in lots of lovely oxygen for the fire; and as the flame is right at the top of the firebox it also directly heats the top plate which helps to maintain a good draw while the flue is still cold.
The embers then drop down through the lattice and ignite the next layer down, fanned by the healthy draw, and Robert’s yer mother’s brother. Ten to fifteen minutes later the bottom layer should be well away, ready for some bigger stuff to be added on top.
Once you’ve got the hang of it and (more importantly) you have your wood supply split into appropriate sizes, it takes maybe 30 seconds to build and light, then you don’t have to do anything else until it’s ready for the big stuff to be added.