As I said, I start with an idea based on a character. It can be simple, even just something they do or say, then I jump in and let the story come to me. I don’t plan ahead or outline. That would seem restrictive to me. In the later stages, in a third or fourth rewrite, I might plan a bit, once I know where the story is going. But the first draft is an act of discovery, even for the writer. Sometimes, I only really understand the story itself on the fourth draft. That‘s when you might cut and reshape the book. Sometimes, you have to cut out scenes that really don’t belong, even though you might like them. Movie directors and their editors often talk about how difficult that can be too. But I save everything–maybe I can use a deleted scene elsewhere one day. I write fairly quickly and always early in the morning–up with the birds (mostly crows)! I generally write from 6 - 10, on days when I don’t have to go to work. Every day I reread what I wrote the day before and do some touching up, then I continue. If I’m in a rewriting stage, I print up what I’ve done continually and edit by hand. I can write directly onto a computer, but I can’t edit that way. For me, a good book is a journey, a process that you have to be willing to take. You don’t get there overnight. There are days when you don’t move at all, and others where you write like a turbo jet. But I believe you have to have great faith in the creative process, that even the slow moments are essential, as much as the fast ones.