I've had several people come up to me and ask me how they should start a fanfic. Should they start with a flashback or not? Should they reveal a certain key point to the plot? Should they just introduce the characters and leave it at that?

I will answer these simple questions just for you and go through the process for my newest oneshot so you can have an example.

Step 1- Identify your plot

Most fanfics start off with a plot that the author wants to write and the reader wants to read. Plots come and go really quickly and they are good plots that the author really wants to write. They often come so quickly that the author gets the main idea of the plot down, but the details are really fuzzy.

Make certain things clear like...

• what will happen?

What is the moment that makes you think of your fic? For example, for my oneshot the moment is someone cleaning dishes quickly. What is a plot that would fit with this scene? A restaurant staff person cleaning up after dinner. A restaurant? Maybe the entire group works there. Why is the girl there? She is eating out with her friend there. Why is the kitchen meaningful? She gets a special pass to tour the restaurant area. What are other things that are significant about the restaurant? It runs on daily themes, there are only 5 staff members, the staff members attract business. What could happen in a restaurant? Super Junior could be celebrating someone's birthday. The waiter could spill food on her lap. If that happens she will need to change quickly and get compensated.

We have identified basic things about what will happen and how things run. Next is

• who is this about?

 Someone that is good at cleaning? Good at cooking? Good at greeting people? Smart like a manager? Balanced enough to serve customers?

Yoochun is good at cleaning. Jaejoong can cook. Junsu would be good at greeting. Changmin is often perceived as smart. Yunho has great athletic skills.

With characters decided you can add more details about each of them.

Yoochun is also good at singing so he could also be the entertainment. Changmin likes to eat so he could beg customers for leftovers. Yunho is good at dancing so he could dance around the establishment. Junsu is clumsy, that could be the reason he isn't a waiter. Jaejoong could get angry with Changmin stealing food and threaten him when he enters the kitchen.

With different aspects of the characters decided you should think of a situation where you can show this off instead of simply stating the description of each character in the beginning. This is much more enjoyable to the readers because they get to discover the story instead of plainly read a boring story. It also increases understanding of characters more.

• add the ideas together

Themes + Yunho dancing = Space theme and Yunho moon walking to Michael Jackson in a space suit

Hardworking Jaejoong + hungry Changmin = fight in the Kitchen

fight = mess

Mess + Yoochun = a speedy clean up

My moment has been reached..

Now that the initial plot has been formed more points need to be addressed

• When will this take place?

I want the girl to visit often so that there can be different stories about the restaurant. To have all that drama happen at once would lessen the believability of the story as a whole. I'm going to break this up into different days. The girl would have an easy chance to visit often if not daily if she wasn't in school or working. A time this would be the case is during break time. A common international vacation time is winter break. She has to have money to spend at the cafe so she is a college student with a part time job.

Not only have we chosen the time it will take place, but also how old the protagonist is. (Which really should have been decided with the character part)

• adding ideas again

 break just started = finished exams = want to relax = the restaurant is a comfy and relaxing place

college age = about the same age as the handsome workers

• Decide any additional factors

The name of the restaurant? Street names? Girl's name? What will she order?

When deciding names of companies or chain stores it is a great idea to use names from songs. Try to avoid the title songs. In DBSK's case that would be hug, Mirotic, Balloons, Purple Line, names like that. Instead, use names from other tracks. From the same album as Mirotic there are names like, You're Melody, Rainbow, Flower Lady, and Paradise. Rainbow and Paradise sound good for a name so I'm thinking of using Rainbow Paradise as the name for the cafe.

Other song names could be used for items on the menu or a special. During the 'Oasis' hour they can serve 'tea for two' on half off. Both are DBSK songs and fit with the restaurant setting.

Street names? How about SM Street and Avex Avenue? That sounds creative.

The food? The theme is space in the beginning so some moon cakes and stardust pudding. Things don't have to be complicated, but they can be a little unique. Alien meat, Martian stew, and carbonated fuel can simply be soda.

• Can you get enough from just this to write a chaptered fic or a oneshot?

In this moment you want to write maybe a small portion of the first chapter just to see how you are doing. Sometimes you might write it first then go through the breakdown process, and that is fine. As long as you know you are able to pull from your ideas and create something. I know for sure I can write this oneshot, I already have over 3 pages written!

Next step, the foreword.