How I write depends on what I have to do. If it's a non-fiction piece, say a how-to number which a company wants to produce for its customers, there's a sort of thesis-antithesis-synthesis machine that clicks into my head coupled with a "no-jargon" mechanism. I have a clear idea where the structure needs to be at any moment and as I progress, an alarm bell goes off to tell me I've missed a point or haven't explained something well enough.

For fiction, or fact pieces that use the techniques of fiction (like the Bisky number), it depends on the effect I want to create. For example, maybe I'm writing a part that's all internal, very subjective, big chunks of dense texts -- the viewpoint is particular and I write accordingly. But generally I have to SEE and HEAR the scene, and then the specifics of the part (the rhythm, the color, the tempo, etc) kick in -- at that point the writing is fairly easy.

For the Bisky piece, it was easy (well, as easy as my new, surgically wonky brain allows me to be) since there were only two characters who were doing very little. At that point it's just a question of being observant and picking the right similies -- oh, and trying not to overwrite. No, the Bisky one was easy, I just had to start the "movie reel" and follow along.