The elements

I go for the characters before anything. I love knowing what is in the minds of other people and who/what they are. I think the characters are the most interesting part of the whole story. I follow the characters and their minds before I even know what is happening. Or make predictions about what will happen based upon their thinking styles and what they are aiming for. If the characters are boring, how am I supposed to care about the rest of the story? Who wants to follow along with Blandy McBoring the whole time? Nobody. When I write I find myself figuring out the characters first, placing their pieces before I even know what it is that I will write about (of course throughout the thinking process they may change anywhere from slightly to dramatically, but that's the beauty of creating).