The basic advice seems to always be to write the story the first time anyway you want and don’t worry about anything, get it written down. For the most part, I’ve found that to be true. Once my initial draft is done, it is not unusual for me to go through six to ten drafts before I’ve got the story where I want it. In between those drafts, around the third draft, I put it away for a few weeks and let it marinate, then start a few more drafts, let it set, and then pick it up and finalize the story before I’m ready to send it off to the publisher.
Reader question: What’s it like for you when you finally have a draft story, what happens then?
