creating a new content type with a series of blocks
I think that what you are looking for is Drupal's Taxonomy feature.  I would start with that.  This lets you categorize your content.

After that familiarize yourself with the views module.  Items created in nodes that are associated with taxonomy terms can be listed in a views block.  So if you have a concert site you can create a "show" type with dates.  Then you can create a view/block that lists upcoming concerts.

Then when you get those two things I would recommend learning how to use panels.

For a great example of it all put together look here