Writer's Fallout Shelter

I don't even do character sketches. I don't know what the characters need to be, or what sort of background will support their actions in the story, until I know where the story's going. I have to take notes as they reveal themselves to me. The only drawback to this sort of thing is inconsistency - I have to take good notes, or do a lot of checking and rechecking to be sure I don't inadvertently change their eye color, or height, or some other little detail that's going to get me caught out by a reader. Even the most insignificant detail (they're the easiest to forget) can trip you up.

My stories usually start with a mental video of a scene. It's not always clear what's up, but something intrigues me enough to start writing it down. If my characters don't help me develop the story, I'm pretty much sunk - they ARE my imagination. And I've even had them go "on strike" because I tried to force things in a different direction. If I want to explore something they don't, I almost have to negotiate with them. Threats only work up to a point; rewards, like starring in their own chapter, work better.

Isn't the mind a wonderful, quirky, irritating thing, sometimes?