and if you apply too much heat the insulation on the wires melt and shrink

practice and then more practice...
take some cheap shitty radio apart and practice on that first ...

the smaller the chip or solder pad the smaller the tip needed .. nothing too higher wattage or it will damage the board aswell
been doing soldering for around 20 years now, and surface mount is a real pig if you aint got the right kit...

as jamz said illumnated magnifing glass is a must