Each Chinese character is composed of a number of different strokes, and there is a set of rules governing the order of these strokes. While intimidating at first, these rules are actually simple to learn. The websites below will provide you with more information.

http://www.zhongwen.com/shufa/index.html
This is an excellent introduction to the various strokes that can comprise a Chinese character, as well as the rules governing the order to these strokes. Any beginner should start here.

http://lost-theory.org/ocrat
The Ocrat pages provide a couple of useful Chinese tools, including a library of animated pictures to help you learn Chinese stroke order, and a Chinese phonetics table to help with pronunciation.

http://www.eon.com.hk/estroke/
This is an interesting tool that allows you to see the stroke order, pinyin, and English meaning of Chinese characters. While the tool is not free, you can download a full featured evaluation version.