Why and how I write...

I got this survey here and thought it might be fun to do, so here goes! If you do it on your blog please post a link in my comments! I'd love to read your responses! Or just answer it here in my comments!

1. Are you a “pantser” or a “plotter?”
I'm a pantser. I get a great idea and build on it. generally I have an ending in mind but that doesn't mean that is how it will actually end. Sometimes I sit down to write and by the time I've finished I'm shocked at what my characters have been up to! They definitely have their own spirits and lives. I'm only gifted with the chance to help them tell you who they are and I relish it!

2. Detailed character sketches or “their character will be revealed to me as I write?”
Again, being a "pantser" my characters let me know who they are as I write their story. I usually have a basic idea what they are like but they often surprise me with their reactions to situations I write them into.

3. Do you know your characters’ goals, motivations, and conflicts before you start writing or is that something else you discover only after you start writing?
I would say that I do know what they are facing in advance, at least at the core. If surprising things happen though that can change but generally it only tweaks the original ideas.

4. Books on plotting – useful or harmful?
I've done a lot of research on everything related to writing and publishing and I've learned a lot but I've also found that the more I read the more conflicting opionions I find on whatever I'm researching. That's made me end up more confused than I was to begin with. I think there's a delicate balance here. I listen to my gut and hold on, hoping for the best. I use the knowledge that makes me feel strongly. It's a lot of trusting myself and what my intuition says to do based on what info I've gleaned.

5. Are you a procrastinator or does the itch to write keep at you until you sit down and work?
I love to write and the characters and stories won't shut up in my head so I tend to be more teh itch follower, to the point that my daughters and hubby worry they may be going to school/work naked if I don't get my stories out!

6. Do you write in short bursts of creative energy, or can you sit down and write for hours at a time?
Both. There've been times when I've been manic about it, really on a mad writing groove, so to speak. My kids think I'm nuts and I probably am but I LOVE when I'm writing in one of those grooves. It's primal. There are other times when I just write without the manic groove.

7. Are you a morning or afternoon writer?
I write whenever I can. Generally that's early Saturday and Sunday mornings, evenings after my kids are in bed, and preschool days when all of the kids, including the twins are gone.

8. Do you write with music/the noise of children/in a cafe or other public setting, or do you need complete silence to concentrate?
I MUST have music. I don't mind noise because that is my life but that said when I've been in a manic writing groove I've wanted all sound except the music to cease. My kids talk to me and I say, "Shut it! I'm writing here!!!!"

9. Computer or longhand? (Or typewriter?)
Computer!

10. Do you know the ending before you type Chapter One?
Yes, but that doesn't mean when I get to the end it hasn't changed.

11. Does what’s selling in the market influence how and what you write?
No. I write what comes to me and what I feel passionate about!

12. Editing – love it or hate it?
I loved it in the first round but now....I'm kind of sick of my book because I've read it sooooo much! I'm finding it difficult to finish the edits. I've fallen a little out of love with the book I'm editing but I when I'm in it again I remember why I loved it to begin with.

13. Why do you want to write?
I can't imagine doing anything else. I love it and the stories won't let me not. It's a love of mine and I couldn't stop if I wanted to.

14. Do you want to publish your work? Why?
Yes. So much. I love my stories and love for other people to experience them and love them as well. It will be so humbling and amazing when that can happen!

15. Do like to write alone or do you like to work with others?
Alone. I do like my critique group but I don't think I could collaborate. My head knows what it knows and my heart agrees! :)