How do I write?

A lot of writers plan meticulously, they know how their story is going to progress step by step, chapter by chapter, from the very beginning. It's all there, characters, plot, scenes, outcome. Everything. All they need to do is to put it down on paper....but I don't, but sometimes I wish I could!

I think of a character in a situation, and then let it develop.

I've tried to plan, then tried to stick to the plan, but unfortunately my characters won't let me, they go off at tangents, they disappear from the page only to appear somewhere else, they take on a mind of their own and to hell with the consequences, they wag their fingers at me when I try to make them go in a direction they don't want to go...and then they dig their heels in, refusing to move. So instead of planning, now I just let the book form by following the characters and letting them show me their story. They sort of guide me as I write, lead me through page after page, which is interesting as I haven't a clue as to where they are going to take me, what they'll show me, and more importantly, what's going to happen to them. The reality is that I'm just as keen to find out what the story is all about as everyone else. The difference is that get to find out first!