First, you must take the time to establish a good draw.  Make sure the damper is wide open. The first trick to enable a chimney to draw is to crack a window. A properly drafting chimney is a warm air siphon. If the chimney has no available air source, it cannot draft. The object is to bring pressure into the room, so crack the one where the wind is blowing AT the window.  The next trick to get the chimney to draw is to preheat the flue.  Cold air is falling inside your chimney and has essentially plugged it.  After checking to be sure your chimney is free of creosote deposits (this is important – igniting creosote will cause a dangerous chimney fire), roll up 5 newspaper "torches" to pre-heat the chimney flue.  Light the newspaper torches one at time: hold them one after the other UP the chimney.  It may take a few minutes to establish a siphon.  When the smoke is drawing up the chimney, light the kindling and build your fire slowly.  Once well established, close the window.  If this did not help, please consult a chimney expert/cleaner.

You’ll need newspaper, kindling and dry, seasoned firewood.   Open the damper.  Loosely ball up or twist sheets of newspaper and place it across the fireplace grate (balling creates air pockets to fuel the fire).  Place kindling on top of the newspaper, then place a couple of pieces of firewood to the right and left of the kindling (not directly on top).    Light the newspaper and the kindling should start right up. Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t go out and that the firewood catches & burns.  Once those two pieces of firewood are burning successfully – after a few minutes – add another piece of firewood to the middle (remember a fire needs air, so don’t stack the wood in the fire, layer it leaving gaps).