23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story—from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?
As long as it needs to.
I’ve written some stories and edited them to a good spot within hours–I wrote an entire story in one night, editing it the following morning. Other short stories take far longer–weeks, even spread over months. I don’t post them online, nor do I submit them for publication. I’m not happy-happy with them, so they don’t get anywhere. Yet.
I find that, in some cases, short stories just come to me, completely intact, so I need to write them out before I forget. Some, I need to coax out.
As for novels, well, I’ve only done the first draft of one, and that turned out rather poorly. I’m working on another, still in the planning stages. I’m always in the planning or research stages…
Ned Wolfe 
I’m similar to you in my writing. Some of my short stories (or essays) have come out in one session. Idea or title just pops and out the story comes. Other times, I’ll write the idea in my notebook, but have to percolate on it and do sections until it gels. Sometimes it never fully gels and the story is incomplete (or rushed to an end). I’m just getting myself into sending out more for publication.
Barbara
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What I find most annoying is when an image or story sticks in my mind, but I can’t create a decent protagonist to carry it to fruition. I labor over it, get frustrated, and put it aside. There’s one story that I started in the spring that I liked the idea and setting, but my protagonist was painfully dull.
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