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I'm one for planning the beginning and letting my mind flow. I find if I plan too much, it just feels robotic. Surprisingly, I've never had to alter the plot. It just always works, so I must be lucky like that.
After I've written it, I fill in any holes and just edit it like mad. Today I was planning out my new fiction and I cut most of it from just looking at it. But that is it.

@Desert: Being 'robotic', as you put it, is something I have to watch out for. And I must say you have ample luck and skill/creativity to be able to make it up as you go, and have it turn out so well. I think I would go a little crazy if I didn't know what was going to happen next.

When I come across holes, all my writing stops, and I sit down on my bed with some good music for an hour, til I think of something that will work (and by 'work' I mean I have to be hit with a cosmic blast of inspiration)

@Puppa: If I go back to things I wrote years ago, I generally tend to die a little bit reading over them. I can't believe how cliche and predictable I was! It doesn't help that my writing was just awful.
I've been working on a novel for a few years now, and all that remains of the old plotline is the villan. And I'm still working on changing her.
The recent overhaul I just went through wasn't nearly to that extent, but it changed sooo much. My story is like a pet to me, and every time I change it to fit together better, I love it more. Even more than the pets I actually have.

Princess - It's how I've always worked. I see writers all over saying they need to plan every detail or know at least how it ends. I can't work like that. I plan only the beginning and even then, that can change! Haha, I've been writing for so many years, I just go with the flow.

Phade - Exactly. Knowing too much puts me off. The whole element of surprise is inspiration enough and I am lucky to have everything fit together perfectly smile

Every last one of my plots gets keel-hauled and changed two or three times before I am happy with it. I have come to learn that there are "stages" to my writing:

-Initial idea. This is where I start to write it all out and get it out of my head.
-Tearing the idea apart. Because what sounds good in my head sucks as soon as I write it down.
-Build it back up again. This is where I change, delete, move things around, and rewrite the first idea.

Rinse and repeat as necessary. By the time I finish, the final plot barely resembles what I started with (usually). A few key things stay the same, but the rest is different.

For example, I have a side story about a girl (who owns a lovely porcelain doll) who starts out pretty, then gets her face broken when her little sister breaks her doll. Originally, the story was told in the little sister's viewpoint to see what her older sister is going through, and trying to find a way to fix it. The doll (and other toys) would come to life at the end and give the little sister the key to "fixing" both the doll and her sister. Something about her sister and her doll sharing some kind of link, and fixing the doll/making the doll feel better about herself would in turn help her sister. There was also a side plot with the older sister's boyfriend that took a back seat to the little sister trying to help. The older sister also originally had an accident involving the mall escalator to get her face broken to begin with.

The current version is told in the older sister's perspective, where she was insecure before, and is moreso now because of her face. While the younger sister still tries to help her, the doll does not come to life at all, and has become more symbolism than anything. The boyfriend subplot is more prominent as he tries to help his girlfriend regain her confidence, and the older sister has an emotionally abusive ex that was simply mentioned in the old version, but now has a far larger role. The accident changes too: her face gets broken in a car accident.

In both versions, the damage to the older sister's face is permanent. The damage itself and the older sister's insecurities are about the only things that stay consistent in both versions. Characters, character personalities, gimmicks, settings, and plot points changed as needed.

As mentioned, I keep doing this as necessary. I have one story that is on its third overhaul, and I am finally getting to be happy with it, as lately, most of what I felt needed to change were minor tweaks and altercations. If I have a fourth "overhaul," it will just simply be a series of these little fixes instead of literally re-writing the whole thing. Words cannot describe the love I have for this current version.

I am not afraid to admit to myself that something I wrote is garbage. It just means I go back to it later when I am older and wiser and have better ideas to put the pieces together. I am one of those lucky, "things just fall into place" kind of authors. And sometimes, those things falling into place leads to an overhaul...

The last book felt a bit rushed, and I think she should have put more time into it. I drifted through the first half where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were camping, then got into it when things started happening in the second half.

It does take forever for me to write (I am only now starting to re-write the third overhaul of my main story), but even if it took me a hundred years to do, I want my stories to be good. A place for everything, and everything in its place.

I tend to think of writing a story like doing a jigsaw puzzle: the outer edge (the finalized idea) is easy. It is putting the rest of the pieces together that can be difficult, but so rewarding when they come together nicely.

The basics I gave are simple enough that someone could try to steal it, but come up with something different. Hence I had no problem with posting it. ^^

I have been down the "someone stole this from me" path. I am very protective, and I purposely have stories I do not care so much about showing off so I have proof that I can write for this reason.

Ron and Hermione was hinted at through the whole series, but Ginny and Harry came out of left field for me. But I do not mind either one.

It is a wonderful feeling, yes? As the saying goes, you cannot make an omelet without breaking some eggs.

Indeed. As mentioned elsewhere in this guild, there is nothing new under the sun, just new ways to present and weave what is already there.