We use this picture at work to show the importance of communication.  If everyone isn’t on the same page and doesn’t have the same attitude from the get-go, projects are most likely to fail, or may eventually succeed, but will have cost $$$$$$$$$.

When I look at this picture, instead of thinking about tax dollars and project planning, I think about outlining novels.

Everything I plan to write changes drastically by the time I’ve finished it.  Sometimes my original idea changes completely by the time my outline is finished!

What I’m trying to say here is that with novel writing, sometimes you just have to go where the story takes you.  It may not end how you thought it would (say, a really sad ending vs. a happy one), but I think stories tend to write themselves in the end.  Once you completely know a character and put them into a situation(s), generally everything else sort of falls into place.

One time, my dad met Ann Patchett.  He asked her, “Why did Bel Canto have to end the way it did?” Her response? “It’s the only way it could end.”

So while you may start out planning to make a tire swing, you might actually end up with a rope and wooden panel swing.  And that’s not really that bad if you think about it.