I always work from an outline, so I know all the of the broad events and some of the finer details before I begin writing the book.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I outline and outline and outline, and then I'm very specific about the stuff I write. That's my process.
I have a number of writers I work with regularly. I write an outline for a book. The outlines are very specific about what each scene is supposed to accomplish.
I outline fairly extensively because I'm usually dealing with real events. I don't need to give myself as much information as I used to, but I still like to have two pages of outline for every projected 100 pages of manuscript.
I know what I want to achieve in each book and the major points, but I don't plan right down to the chapters. I think that the characters write themselves in some degree.
I always have a basic plot outline, but I like to leave some things to be decided while I write.
I'm a great planner, so before I ever write chapter 1, I work out what happens in every chapter and who the characters are. I usually spend a year on the outline.
When I'm writing the first draft, I'm writing in a very slovenly way: anything to get the outline of the story on paper.
I do not outline. There are writers I know and count as my friends who certainly do it the other way, but for me, part of the adventure is not knowing how it's going to turn out.
I never work from an outline, and often I don't know how the story will end.
The way that I write novels in particular is I don't usually outline; I just write. Part of the fun is discovering what's happening in the story as I'm going along.