Swan Tower

I'll scribble down something vaguely like an outline if I can see where the story's going, but can't write it that minute (which happened with this story). That way I won't forget it in the interim. But outlining isn't a required step. Then I write, usually straight through -- in Wordperfect, which makes some people go "huh?," some people laugh hysterically, and the few other WP users still out there fist-bump me in solidarity. :-) I generally have friends read and comment on the draft, though if I feel good enough about the result, I sometimes just send it out without critique.