Before Odyssey, I gave myself just one hard and fast rule: write 2,000 words a day, every day, no matter how bad they are. (To be fair, I was on a work schedule where I could make time to do this, whereas now I count myself lucky if I can squeeze 1,000 words in on a good day.) I’d never taken a creative writing class before, so had absolutely no... See more

I could fill up pages and pages with things I’ve learned about outlining from Jeanne Cavelos and Kij Johnson. I think one rule of thumb I always come back to is this: at each bullet point of the outline, make sure your main character is doing something. Each stage must be the direct result of the protagonist’s choice, whether or not they are... See more

I do three drafts on my own: a brainstorming draft where I just write down all the scenes I think would be cool, a structural draft where I string those scenes together into some form of coherent order, and a clean-up draft where I make aesthetic edits. The first draft usually takes me the longest, but the second draft is the hardest to do. After I... See more