I think it's fascinating how differently it occurs to different people.

I wish I could describe how it is for me, because it's so very similar to yours and so very *not*. I guess, in the end, it feels like I'm taking something--my life, I guess, the world, certain truths, canon if it's fanfiction but much more than that--and writing for me is breaking that something into bits, each of which is a story. And if I didn't do that breaking down everything would be just one formless blob without shape or color or sound. You could probably shoot me and convince me it didn't really happen to me.