new to conlanging

Well, this is my first stab at it.  I'm trying to write a book, and being
influenced heavily by Tolkien, really wanted a language and culture for my
characters, not just a bunch of Americans play-acting in costumes.  So
anyway, I have a few words for a song that I'd like to share, and some
questions for all you who have much more experience than I.

The first word I found was for a planet: Decanul /d2"kAnl/, which means
"king's hall" (hope I'm getting the SAMPA spelling right!)  Next came the
song.  I wrote it in English first, then started to use it to develop the
language.

lili aema /li:li: eimQ/, lit. "dear-little-one mine" or "my dear"

on dethond'aema /on d2"Tond%eimQ/, lit. "in heart-mine" or "in my heart."

dethonde /d2"Tond@/ means "heart" and loses the -e when followed by /ei/, at
least in poetic use.

corgotaeni /"korGoTeinE/ means "echoes," the plural noun.  I wanted
something that sounded like a rock falling into other rocks.  I came up with
corgq.  Otaen means "voice" and will be related to the verb _speak_ when I
feel confident enough to work on verbs!  So corgotaeni literally means
"rock-voices," and to say corgotaeni-taka changes echoes into a verb.
(taka="making")

So!  What I would really like to know is: am I on the right track in making
my conlang?  Is this how any of you started: kind of unstructured?  How can
I know what to do next?

Thanks for any of your insight!

Guy

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