On to the next question:

Two – Is your focus on the small details or on the bigger picture?

If you aren’t quite sure of the answer, think about this. You ask someone to fetch you a pen; do you just ask for the pen or do you give them exact instructions on where it is – third drawer down in the bureau, next to the stapler, perhaps. If you do the first, you are a bigger picture person; do the second and it’s the small details for you.

Think of an impressionist painting. When you look at it from far away, it seems as clear as day but when you get closer, the image disappears into the many thousands of small details that make it up. Single brushstrokes that go together to make one big picture.

If you are a bigger picture person, how do you get past your lack of attention to those small details? You have to love your characters; if you do, you will pay attention although you may find that you have to force your mind back on your work at times. Conversely, a person who pays close attention to the small details will sometimes have to sit back and look at the bigger picture, try to see what it will be like when it's finished.

External tools come in handy. Use a spreadsheet with columns titled something like Chapter, First Page, Last Page, Location, Time, Summary and so on. As you write your book, fill out each section for each scene; it isn’t an outline of your book, it’s a tool that will help keep you focused on your work. Or use images from magazines, online or ones you draw yourself to make a storyboard as you write, something to look at and keep you grounded.

Three – As a writer, what is your one pathological need?

Perhaps a better way of asking is, why do you write? Are you trying to put a specific message across?

A lot of writers are not consciously aware of this message; if they strike it lucky, they may find an underlying message that strikes a chord with their audience, even if they didn’t put it in deliberately.

We cannot control pathological needs. What you can do is learn what yours is and understand it so that you can work with it. If you can’t channel that need, if you can’t refine it, you can't work with it effectively. Think of an athlete; they have to test their strength, speed, and endurance. As a writer, you need to experiment, find the best approach to your work so that you can understand how to boost your productivity.

One of the biggest challenges a writer faces is having to write from their characters’ point of view. Can you get over your pathological need so that you can represent that of another person?  Perhaps more important, do you truly understand what your readers need? Can you make an emotional connection to them?

Every writer will have different answers for each book they write but knowing the answers can help you to approach the process in the right frame of mind.