Thanks for asking us Kelly. I am a "seat of the pant's" type writer, and I let the writing take me where it wants to go for the first draft only. I put everything into it, meaning every word, phrase, sentence, story, that comes to mind. It is not until subsequent drafts that I develop the characters or scene. I was so focused on TEARS that phrases would fly at me literally out of the blue, and sometimes I could not get them down fast enough. Or they would come at inconvenient times, like when watching a movie in a theater, and I'd have to dig for pen and pager in the dark. I don't have the luxury of being able to start writing at 9 am and keep going until 11pm, 12. (once I get started I don't stop.) I have a full time job now. Now I need to write as you are suggesting here, and , like I said, I need structure. I'd like to see the answers others give in terms of their writing schedule. To answer your question, TEARS was not outlined or planned, but my next book does have an outline. I need to give it daily attention. And I don't.