What's your process?

[Ahrrie]

We all have one, each as unique to the person as it is to the story being told. What's yours? Do you research everything you might use first? Do you build a whole world in your head before you ever write a sentence? Or do you simply wing it, and let the characters tell the story?

I'm curious, and I'm also hoping the insight gained might help me break a bit of my own writer's block!

If you have any organizational tools, tricks, habits, quirks, or whatever share those too!

[Aminar]

I like to call what I do Sandboxing.
I build a big world. Not too detailed mind you, but I get an idea of its history, cultures, magic, and the like. Then I start writing and see where it takes me. This allows me to essentially be born into the world and learn about it as I go, but with enough of a framework where I can build a decent story, which is the only way I've ever gotten anything to work.

[The Deposed King]

Starting a seriies I do something similar.  I have a character or characters in mind, and a general idea of terrain, magic/science, and background.  then I have some ideas of what I want the character to do.

Then as I get deeper into a series I really need to do an outline.  I've got to the point I do a chapter by chapter outline from start to finish just so I don't get lost.



The Deposed King