What do I know? I'm just the author.

A great question in a comment to an earlier post, from Judith:

You say you write everyday, but you listen to your characters while you go about your daily life, right? So does that mean you like to listen to your characters first and get a clear sense of who they are, and then write, or you write right away even if the characters are still not fully developed? Basically, I guess I'm asking how soon you

start writing.

Essentially I start writing in order to find out who they are. I start ...