I’ve been having trouble writing lately–oh, sure, I’ll do 300-500 words here and there and to be completely honest, that’s fine. Really, what’s wrong with that? Nothing. But I miss being able to sit down and hammer out 2000 words in a sitting. Maybe it’s how busy everything is lately–I’m dealing with my weird, weird health (I went to the hospital a few weeks ago and though I haven’t had to go back I am definitely not back to “normal”), my foot (I can walk! But it hurts and I’m going to need physical therapy that I don’t have insurance for), my job (more exhausting than it ought to be due to the aforementioned two issues). I’m really hoping that if I just keep pecking away at it the magic will come back to me.
Or I could fill out a survey on my blog, right?
1. Are you a “pantser” or a “plotter?”
Okay, I actually had to look that up. I like to call myself a “road-tripper.” I know where I’m going. I know where I want to end up eventually. Do I care when I get there? It might be nice to arrive before I’m falling over asleep, so I can settle comfortably in a motel room and rest for the night, but can I take a few detours, stop at a few tourist traps? Sure. In other words, I plot only the biggest points and let the characters take me there at their own pace.
2. Detailed character sketches or “their character will be revealed to me as a I write”?
I don’t do character sketches, per se, as I find them too confining. However, if I’m blocked, I tend to write biographical bits from my characters’ lives. I want to know about their past so I can justify their personalities, even if it never comes out in the books. Even so, some characters just beg to do things that surprise me. Reeve is far more assertive than I planned him to be, but honestly, I like him that way.
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?
That’s generally something I need to know beforehand. You never know what else is going to come out of the woodwork, though.
4. Books on plotting - useful or harmful?
Tips are great, rules are useless. It would depend on the book. Plotting techniques (such as the famous note-card scene method) are definitely useful, but any book that tries to tell you if your plot is any good or not without actually being able to read your mind (because it’s a book and books can’t do that) isn’t worth the time.
5. Are you a procrastinator or does the itch to write keep at you until you sit down and work?
Lately, more the latter. Of course, when I sit down, I can’t get anything done, but I try.
6. Do you write in short bursts of creative energy, or can you sit down and write for hours at a time?
Both, at times. More the former, lately, and I miss being able to sit and work for that long. 
7. Are you a morning or afternoon writer?
What about night? I get most work done at night.
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?
The only time I can really write to music is if I’m wearing headphones and need to shut myself away. A playlist is so fickle; I can write to a song, but the song will be over long before I’m done writing the scene. I can put it on loop, of course, as long as no one else is listening. Honestly I prefer the TV as background noise more than anything.
9. Computer or longhand? (or typewriter?)
I don’t have a typewriter anymore, though my mom had one and I used to play with it as a kid. Anyway, it has to be computer; I can type so must faster than I can write. I do plot longhand, though… for some reason it’s easier for me.
10. Do you know the ending before you type Chapter One?
I usually have a feeling for how I want the sentiment of the ending to be, but I don’t always know exactly what happens at the end.
11. Does what’s selling in the market influence how and what you write?
No. I write what I want to write.
12. Editing - love it or hate it?
I love editing, though it can be slow work. Anything that makes my story get better, right on. I also love rewrites, especially if the original wasn’t any good. The only thing I find difficult is typing in my changes after I’ve edited on paper (because I do edit on paper. At least when my printer works).
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