I have to laugh, CC, because you and I go about writing in almost exactly the same way. I start off with pure dialogue - no tags, no quotation marks, nothing. Then I have to go back and give the characters motion and setting.
Actually, my story ideas usually start with a character reaction/emotion. So for example, in Rage, the entire story started with my vision of what Clark would do and feel if Lois got hurt and he totally lost it. I could "see" that scene in my head, imagine his intense feelings, even hear the music that would be used in the movie soundtrack once Steven Spielberg decided to change my story into a movie <g>. The rest of the story branched out from there.
Then the scenes play out like a movie in my head. For days I walk around lost in this other world. When I go to sleep I'm thinking of the story and when I wake up I'm thinking of it. Only after it's completely finished does it let me out of its grip and I lose that glaze in my eye! I think that's why I can't start a story and shelve it - for me it's an intensive burst that propels me through the days/weeks/months it takes to write the story. And this is also why it's impossible for me to have multiple stories going at the same time. I just don't have enough brain capacity to live in so many worlds at once.
I write as much of a particular scene as I can, sometimes letting it gel while I work on another. Like Lab, I find myself flying to find a piece of paper to write down snippets and lines that just come to me at totally random times. I don't know how many times I've thought of something and said to myself "don't worry, you'll remember this" and then forget it completely except to know that I'd had this brilliant flash of insight that I cannot recapture to save my life.
Sadly, unlike Lab, I am completely unable to discipline myself enough to write linearly. I write the scenes that are most exciting to me first, no matter where they occur in the story. That does create the monumental problem of having to bridge scenes, which is what I always seem to have trouble doing.
The thing that inspires me most is the reactions in the characters that I love most. For example, I love protective, growly Clark, so I get inspired when I think of situations that might cause him to act that way. And I like a kinder, gentler Lois, so I think of stories that will allow her to show that side of herself.
Nothing makes me more jealous than when another writer comes up with a really cool situation that shows the character they way I love them best, and I think "Dang, why didn't I come up with that idea?"
Add to all of this the amazing affect music has on me. I can hear a song that grabs me and build a story around the feelings it creates. Not a "song-fic" based on the lyrics but more of a "mood-fic" based on the intensity and tone of the music. With my current story - Butterfly Legacy - I literally have a soundtrack saved on my HD that represents the story musically.
So, CC, I don't know if this answers your question. But I have to say that this topic is fascinating, and I'm anxious to know what drives other writers.
Lynn
