I've been appraising manuscripts for a couple of literary consultants in London recently and there is one thing which crops up time after time in the books that I've been reading and that is a lack of planning. The most brilliant conception is going to lead to an extremely poor delivery if you don't make proper preparations.
Inspiration honestly, truly isn't enough and the perspiration which is said to be a necessary accompaniment should consist of at least some careful planning. You won't do justice to your genius idea if you don't spend time thinking about the execution of it. The stories I've been working on are well-written – no problems there - but the characters are on the skinny side because the writers haven't lived with them for long enough, and the plots are prone to hideous expediency, because the necessary traps haven't been set in advance.
Great artists do preliminary sketches for their paintings, and in order to fulfil your own potential it wouldn't do any harm to come up with an outline plan for the story you intend to write. Nothing needs to be set in stone - the process of thinking ahead will have made you ask important questions about your plot and that is the main thing; the answers may come later and will perhaps surprise you.
Be prepared. Otherwise you may sell yourself short, may not do justice to your ability. Because planning is a practical thing to do, it may feel like the opposite of creativity, but it will provide you with a structure for your story and a gilded frame for your talent.
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