So you think you are God's gift to the pseudo-sport of drifting. You've got your riced-out 1985 Toyota Corolla GTS with a body kit and a resonator that makes your car sound like it has serious exhaust problems. And you think you have what it takes to get this car "slideways". Before you go out and roll that rustbucket into a ditch you should learn how to control this beautiful thing called oversteer.
Oversteer occurs when the rear wheels of the car lose traction when the driver is taking a corner. The back end of the car starts to slide out. Although with front wheel drive, which most cheap cars are today, this is not a problem, it is a common problem with rear wheel drive vehicles, especially those with the engine in the back or for really old cars with swing axle suspension.
The first and most important part to drifting is having a rear wheel drive car. You can't just take your lowly Geo Metro and really drift (although you can use the e-brake, but that isn't real drifting). In order to really have fun oversteering you need a real wheel drive car. Once you have a rear wheel drive car you need to find a nice big parking lot that is clear of obstructions and has a nice straight stretch on which to gain speed (An even better place to drift, which the pros often use is an airstrip).
Once you have found your parking lot, get to the far end of your straight stretch and punch it (obviously, you shouldn't take your first few corners very fast). Once you get to your open area you should start making your turn. Once you feel ready to fishtail you have a few options to start the drift. Method 1: You can punch the brakes (make sure not to lock them up), which shifts the weight of the car to the front wheels. Then you quickly give her some throttle. This should have you drifting nicely (Note: This is similar to what occurs in lift-throttle oversteer). Method 2: While taking the corner simply pop the clutch while getting your revs up.
Now that you are oversteering you are probably thinking to yourself "How do I control this?". The answer is a bit complicated. First, when oversteering you must remember that you are on the verge of spinning out, so you must act both quickly and carefully when steering. Steering into the turn will increase your oversteer and potential for doing a spinout. Steering against the turn (the opposite direction you would normally steer while taking that turn) will straighten the car out, taking you out of the skid (Do not steer too much either way, as you might over compensate and put yourself in a worse situation). Remember that oversteer is all about weight and its affect on traction. If you brake while oversteering the car will pitch forward and you will make your skid worse. Instead you must maintain a steady amount of throttle (unless your rear wheels are spinning, in which case you should let off a little).
Now that you are out of the corner you can change your soiled undies and try it again. Have fun.
(PS: Don't come complaining to me if you hurt yourself or your car while doing this. I ain't the dufus who was driving.)