well... its poly by poly... and... you dont model the torso.. close it compleatly.. the holes for the arms... the hole where the neck connects to... look at your own body.. does ur neck seperate from your torso? if yes.. then u've got a problem there, and should get it checked out....
but honestly look at ur own body... and like you know ur skin? its all connected, its the same thing for modeling, the model is compleatly connected... so from the torso... work your way out to the bicept, tricept, forarm, hands... etc.. till u've made ur arms... and then same for the head.. neck, chin, head.. etc.. hair.... and same for the legs.. if u want an easy way to model poly by poly.. is by getting a ref which u got front and side view.. then just place em as ur bg on milkshape on the front and side view.. and then all u gota do is creat ur vertex... place it, and make the faces... easy as pie... if u need ref or tuts, post again I'll get some.. progress!