How She Does It - Self

We all know there are six elements in writing fiction and often fact. Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. I believe the first five lead to the sixth which for me is the plot. What's your take on this?

1. How do you create your characters? Do you have a specific process? Creating characters for me is fun. I usually have an idea of the story and what kind of character I need. This means for the hero and heroine ones with specific Sim Signs, Moon and Rising Sign. Once i have their characteristics I look for a name. Finding the right name can take hours. Then using a general idea of where the story is heading, I put the characters into action.

2. Do your characters come before the plot? Do you sketch out your plot or do you let the characters develop the route to the end? The idea and the general plot come first. I usually have a general roadmap of the story before the characters are drawn. This doesn't mean the genral plot line doesn't change as I move the characters along the road to their goals.

3. Do you know how the story will end before you begin? In a general way or a specific one? The ending I find is more of a genral one with perhaps a touch of the specific. Often this is the place where it will end. When writing a story with three heroes, three heroes and three villains, the plain where the final confrontation took place was known when I began the book. I could see the chain of mountains behind the plateau.

4. Do you choose settings you know or do you have books of settings and plans of houses sitting around? Many of my settings are totally made up but I do have books that show and tell me about forests, deserts, oceans so I can find specifics. I also go searching on the internet for specifics.

5. Where do you do your research? On line or from books? Research can be from books or on line. Depends on what I'm looking for since I have a lot of books gathered over the years, some general and some specific.

6. Are you a draft writer or do you revise as you go along and why? I'm essentially a draft writer. As I move my characters through their journey there are changes but I don't know if the changes are vital until I reach the end. I also use drafts to flesh out things like setting and to define character and to locate the holes in the plot.