I've only been to the main Powell's once (and the Beaverton branch once)--zomg, being able to go there during lunch hour for me would be like Cordelia Flyte being able to go to the Vatican.

My fic-writing process has always been film-based: I really do make the little people in my head go through their scenes over and over again until it's right, and I do things like zooming in and cutting from one location to another. I also try to give all the characters the equivalent of quality screen time, although I'm pretty much in the failboat on that.