What's your favorite part of writing a novel?

A new thread was started over at Book Bazaar on Kindleboards and there was so many great responses that I wanted to post them over here too.

I'll start: my favorite part of writing a novel is getting a scene or chapter back from my co-author, Dave. We write in tandem and edit as we go along. It's funny how sometimes you have the whole chapter plotted out in your head, then I get Dave's next scene and it changes everything. I can't tell you how exciting and challenging it is to write with someone who is totally opposite of you. Dave keeps me from writing too much like a girl and I keep him from writing too much like a retired Marine...we have a great time together.

Sibel Hodge [who started the thread] says: My favourite things are creating characters and writing dialogue. Making up new people from endless possibilities, hearing their voices as I type, and actually seeing them in my head as I write - like watching a movie. The only downside to this is that sometimes the characters take over and literally have conversations with each other in your head. Even when you're trying to sleep!
The Fashion Police (Comedy Mystery) (Volume 1)

Mark Cotton says: I love creating the characters and finding out what they're going to do and say. Sometimes though, it's when that last piece of the plot's puzzle clicks into place and you realize you've got a story that works from beginning to end.

Kristen Tsetsi says: I loooove writing dialogue between two characters in a tense situation. Oh, so much fun.
Homefront (Volume 0)

Margaret Lake says: Finishing is the best. As for the nitty-gritty ... I love dialogue and conflict. I especially love when my characters begin to change and grow in new directions that I never envisioned.
Catherine and the Captain (Volume 1)

J Dean says: All of it. No matter how grueling or difficult it can be at times, the entire process is great.

David Dalglish says: Finishing a short story makes me feel happy about the whole "The End" but not my novels. However, considering I'm writing this stupidly long series, I don't really feel I've reached The End yet. Maybe it'll feel like that when I finally crank out the fifth book. Still, my endings are rarely, um, happy, so that probably hurts the whole feeling. My favorite is far and away having my characters interact. Having them argue, fight, even try to kill each other, all while I sit in the background curious as to what will happen. I rarely know how these things will turn out. I try to surprise myself, and sometimes a saying or argument will sway me when I didn't think it would. Velixar is especially fun for me. He plays the tempter, the intelligent evil, and his conversations with any character are so much fun.
The Weight of Blood (The Half-Orcs, Book 1)

Nancy C. Johnson says: I would have to say, all of the above, especially writing dialogue. That way I can get my three pages per day out of the way a whole lot faster... Just kidding. (Well, not entirely.) I do love writing dialogue. For me, and I'm sure for others, it's almost as if the characters take over. I have no say in it at all. Perhaps they are living in another dimension somewhere, and all I'm doing is tuning in. Anyway, that's how it feels. I dislike doing research, but it's a must for every book. But it usually ends up adding something a little special to the book which I didn't expect. Takes it in a new direction in some cases.
Her Last Letter

Maureen A Miller says: I generally like the twenty pages or so before THE END. Usually I'm building up to some climactic/confrontational scene and when I write that scene it's like I'm by myself at WallyWorld and strapping myself into a rollercoaster and pushing the GO button.
Widow's Tale

Camille LaGuire says: I love exploratory writing, just letting the characters take the bit in their mouths and run. Throwing different problems at them. Playing around. Plotting is similar and therefore also fun. Dialog writing, well yeah, even when you've got things planned out, characters have a way of improvising on you. I feel more pain pulling that stuff into a completed draft. (I hesitate to call it a "first" draft, since a lot of the material is on its second draft by that point.) But that can be a pleasure too - watching the pieces start working together, the timing, the foreshadowing, the misdirection. Then it gets fun again as I rewrite that sucker into perfection.
Have Gun, Will Play

John Fitch V says: I enjoy every aspect of the writing process: the concept stage, the outline/brainstorming, and then the writing. I love writing action scenes, so much to the point where I don't want to take a break while writing them; I keep them fast-paced and energetic, leaving the reader on the edge of their seats.
Turning Back The Clock

Edward C. Patterson says: My favorite moment is when I am alone with my characters and I get them all to myself and I see their potential and make decisions in their lives. That is . . . the moment of creation.
The Academician - Southern Swallow Book I

So what about you author friends, what is your favorite part?