In the end, the story I jotted down in first draft two nights back turned into a 3100-words short called A Piece of the Action, and it’s currently on its way towards the editor’s desk, hoping it will find a slot in the proposed anthology.

My current process is more or less defined.

1. I write the first draft in public, working in Google Docs online, in two or three hours, in the evening.
2. I let the story rest for about 24 hours while I do something completely different.
3. Still in Google Docs, I clean up the file, deleting my in-line live commentary and doing a first revision.
4. Then I switch the Language Tools plugin and have a go at the text, catching typos, inconsistencies and wrong phrase construction.
5. At this point, I copy and paste the text in a LibreOffice doc and I have a final revision, cutting what can be cut and adding what needs to be added.
6. I format the text according to the guidelines, I save it in the requested format, and I send it along to the editor with a brief cover letter.

And that’s it.
Then the waiting begins, because there’s usually a few weeks lag between delivery and final verdict.
But that’s part of the game.
And now, on to the next story.
This thing is working like clockwork.
Tonight I might try and do another, depending on how my plans for dinner work out.