A very interesting thread this and full of wonderful information. I must confess I'm a little awed by the company I am in. You are all so talented and well educated; Maddie, a senior honors thesis even. I, as I informed Ruby, only managed three years at high school and have learned what I do know in the school of hard knocks. By the way Ruby, thanks for your last PM. It made me sit back and indeed take a deep breath instead of baling like I was going to.

I would call myself an intuitive writer. The stories I have written thus far have been based on people I have met here on the forums or in real life, apart from the story contest when the Right Honorable Rabbit gave us the photo theme. The roleplay "The Taking of Khaera" of course was Daes' brainchild, that I have been really excited to be a part of. The Pony Ranch role play was my own idea but sadly, due to the server move, two characters that had joined lost their posts and have not rejoined the fray.

I digress. I was saying I write intuitively. I get an idea for a character usually from someone I have met and take it from there. I seem to have a pretty good memory for the characters I develop as I am writing the story and haven't bothered with an outline, but having read this thread I am beginning to see the benefits of having one, possibly some notes as well. This would be really handy for longer short stories and books.

Without wanting to sound like some kind of Prima Donna, I tend to see myself as an artist and rely heavily on creative flow to fuel my stories. When my muse sings it's nothing for me to bang out a story like "Crossing Diana - The Awakening" in two to two and a half hours. I tend to be a little punch drunk after that, it is a very intense creative burst if you like. The inevitable writers drop (is there such a term?) is equally intense.

I hope what I have written here makes sense to you who read it and it covers what Ruby assigned me to do.