When I write fiction I imagine the story as a movie in my head. Every single tap of my fingers on the keyboard is like a single frame in a film. Well, maybe more like every paragraph or two, but absolutely every scene, and every chapter. I may close my eyes or I may not, but I always SEE the aerial shots, the close-ups, the fades and the jump cuts. I HEAR the soundtrack, the rallentando (yes, I had to look that up) and the crescendo of the music when the drama is amping up or down. I don’t, but I know some writers who actually play music while they are writing to match the tone or time period of their story. 
Whether it’s third person limited, omniscient, or first, I listen to the narrator. I’m the director for sure, but someone else is speaking. I often don’t imagine their face exactly, but it’s there in the shadows for my reader to bring into the light of their choosing.
Every one of my characters is an actor, and they all have work to do. Like any good actor, they need to learn their backstory, history and experience, which may or may not ever appear on screen but will influence and affect every move they make, every thing they say, and every reaction they have.
From the main character to the teenage check-out girl at the CVS counter — the one with the nose ring and dyed black hair — they all have to do the work. Of course, the main character actors are getting paid more, so theirs is harder. Still, Olivia, scanning coupons, has to know why she is angry and scowling at her customer when they ask her where the hydrogen peroxide is.
When I am writing, the movie is unfolding in my mind in real time. We are now all from a movie-going generation, and we have a pretty good idea of how visual stories are told. When we sit watching a movie, we can predict that the man will wake up in the middle of the night to a sound downstairs and go to investigate — while we, the audience, are asking ourselves why he is being so stupid? Has he ever watched a movie?
The trick, of course, is to try and be creative and unpredictable. But not too unpredictable. I had a writing teacher once who called it the Expected Surprise. Readers don’t want to be tricked. So the trick is to use language, imagery, plot, structure, and a myriad of other skills to keep the reader interested, and maybe even a little impressed. Be original but not incomprehensible. Be creative but not to the expense of being entertaining.
So I wonder from time to time, how did writers do it before they had the benefit of film? I mean, of course I understand the power of observation and imagination. But we have it easier.
That’s all I have to say about that.