There is a progression in learning painting per classical tradition. The student first learns how to suggest shape through exercises like contour drawing and negative space drawing. Then the student moves to charcoal and learns to suggest form by making value studies. Then colour theory introduced and learned. Finally, the student learns how to compose a scene to communicate their idea more effectively.
What I'm wondering is if there is such a progression for writing? When I look at a blank sheet of paper, or the blank white of my notepad doc, I feel a particular dread, as if I am about to step blindly into an abyss that will mercilessly eat me (and my accompanying idea). Word choice, sentence structure, metaphor, idiom, plot, meter, rhyme, more and more and yet more things to consider carefully, like trying to balance a finely tuned scale, except the weights keep changing size and moving around.
What are some exercises a beginner writer can do? Exercises that isolate certain parts of writing and so make it easier for later analysis and improvement?