My Process

Some writers plan their novels in detail while others claim to simply wind up their characters and let them go.  I'm in the middle.  I need to have the security of a planned destination, so I know the thing isn't just going to fizzle out.  Over a period of time, possibly months, I'll document a list of possible scenes. This is Plan B.  Plan A is what the characters decide to do, and is usually better.
I sketch characters but allow them to develop as I write.  My writing is in part a matter of learning about them, finding out what they'll do in the situations I put them in or create for themselves.  Sometimes they surprise me, and do what I don't expect.  I don't mind this.  It makes my life difficult, but I'm sure the story's better(and more credible) for it.
Day to day, I'll take the idea for a scene and allow my subconscious loose on it, then, usually when I wake up but before I get up, I think about it and about the reactions of my characters.  When I'm ready I get up and write.  I'm a morning person.  When I've written the scene, maybe I'll be inspired to continue to the next, or maybe I'll go and get breakfast.
My heroine was chained to a slave's cot for a few days while I worked out the scene.  It's now complete, and she's been released.  Some might say she's free, but wearing a chain has taught her (and me) a few things about freedom we didn't know before.  I love writing!