Have a working spouse, because you won't earn a living from writing - not at first, if ever. My wife worked for years to support us.

Normally I work out a general summary of what I mean to do, then start writing, and the details can be different from my anticipation. So there is considerable flow, but always within channels.

As for collaboration - I have done a lot, 26 books, and found publishers increasingly resistive to them. It's not that the books are bad; editors won't even read them.

Bink knew the dolphin only from old pictures; it was a kind of magic fish that breathed air instead of water.

It would be easier to write a novel without reader input, but I feel the fiction is richer for it.

Be what you are; it is better that way. --Dolph

I wish my readers took less of my time - about a third of my working time goes to them - but I love and need them all.