So you want to write fiction? Great!

You want to write fiction, except you're not sure where to start? Not a problem. The way to start writing is to, well, start writing. Don't worry about whether or not it'll be any good; just get those words down on paper, or recorded on disc, or however you preserve what you write. The important thing isn't how well you write, but, rather, that you write. Skill comes with practice, yes? No matter how good or bad you are when you start out, you're not going to budge from that initial skill level -- not unless and until you actually do write.

You want a detailed set of step-by-step procedures for How To Write? Sorry, there ain't no such animal. A fellow named Rudyard Kipling (who knew a thing or two about wordsmithing) said it best:

No two authors do it quite the same way. What works for me might not work for you, and vice versa. So by all means collect whatever advice you feel like, and try it out; just don't be afraid to abandon any particular piece of advice that isn't working for you.

And with all of that said and decently acknowledged...

There are a number of plot elements and 'tricks of the trade' that are either (a) undesirable in their own right, or else (b) threadbare from overuse. A partial list of such -- which is still long enough to merit a page unto itself -- is the Turkey City Lexicon, which is far better than its name. To a first approximation, anything the Lexicon doesn't like should be avoided. Note: 'Should be', rather than 'must be'. A sufficiently skilled author can make pretty much anything work for him, which is the main reason there are no step-by-step instructions on How To Write. But at the same time, it is very true that you have to know the rules before you can break them! Feel free to experiment as much as you like; just be sure you can tell when an experiment has failed.

Some writers start out with an outline of what's supposed to happen in their story -- a plot. I don't do that. Instead, I start with a rough idea of where the story should begin, and where I want it to end. In 'where the story should begin', I include the major character (or characters); their personalities, what relationship they have to one another, and so on. Likewise, 'where I want it to end' includes how the major character(s) will have changed, if at all, during the course of the narrative. Not all the characters must change, of course, but I think it's good if at least one of them does. Put it this way: If every last one of your characters ends up at the same place they started, why are you telling their story?

So when I write a story, I'm basically trying to get from Point A (i.e., the opening scenario) to Point B (i.e., the ending scenario). I don't spend any time planning the route in advance; rather, I improvise. I very much go with what feels right, guided in large part by my knowledge of my characters -- John Doe would never do such-and-such; if thus-and-so happened, Rachel Roe couldn't resist the temptatation to react this way in response; and so on, and so forth.

If I need to have some particular Character X perform Action Y, I don't just write "Character X did Action Y"; instead, I work out why they'd do whatever-it-was. For something like a man giving flowers to his girlfriend, this is trivially easy. But other things, like someone with a fear of snakes visiting the reptile house at his local zoo, may require a bit of setup and maneuvering.

Some authors write their stories in one pass, from start to finish. Me? I write in disconnected chunks, letting each chunk of story accrete more and more words, until all the chunks end up kind of fused together into one complete narrative.

Some authors like to go over their stories multiple times, editing and re-editing until it's just perfect. I don't really do that; while I sometimes rephrase an occasional passage, mostly I leave my stuff alone after I write it.

As you can see, my way of writing is rather unusual. I don't claim that my methods are going to work for anyone else, but they work for me. Whatever methods you use, the important thing is that they work for you -- so experiment, try things out, and discard whatever doesn't work! In the end, you'll have a personal way of writing which serves your needs.