I've seen a lot of advice that says you should plan your novel before you start to write it. But then I've heard hugely successful novelists say they start with a small idea and then just start writing and the novel develops as they go along. I follow the latter. I very much just start writing and the story changes and develops as I write. I don't think there is any right or wrong way, but just wondering what everyone else does?
I do the same - write a plot, stick to most of it, but let your novel take the direction it's supposed to. A book that writes itself is always a good sign, in my opinion.
I think I 'm with you on this.
The first novel I wrote was just to see if I could actually do it. And I had a vague idea and a strong desire to prove to myself I could finish a whole book I just wrote and wrote and the more I wrote the more my ideas flowed. I wrote different chapters at different times and somehow cobbled them all together. At the start It was a crazy mess. I started in the first person and swiched to close third. If something did not flow I stopped, left it and wrote a different part of the story instead. The final chapter I wrote was chapter 2 out of 38 !
As the story progressed it started to take a proper shape, a life of its own. I found my self dreaming the plot, working on it as I drove in the car or went for a jog. Even now 7 months later the characters are still in my head yabbering away. I totally love the whole mad experience. Its so addictive. I love being in control of my character's destiny.
Eventually, I had to spend some time sitting down and planning. Mainly working on a page of the descriptions of each character so they were clear in my head as I wrote. I wanted them to be distinctive and not merge into the same voice. Also researching a few bits and pieces. I finished the first book and sent it off to an editorial service for advice (by the way still waiting to hear back...terrified)
But the sequel is so much better and easier. I wrote a 3 page plan right at the start because I needed to make sure that it would correspond with the first book. Because it was already there in my head, I have a very rough idea where I want the story to go. As I write I find it all changes like a river branching off in different directions. I have written a draft of about twenty thousand words and I have not looked at the inital plan once ! But through all this the main idea and the ending is still there so I know what I am working to and where it is eventually headed. This time I am enjoying writing, theres no pressure like the first book. I still jump chapters according to my mood.