The future is an ever-shifting maze of possibilities until it becomes the present

I might add that you change as a person as you grow older, so you change as a writer, too.

When I was a kid, we had to rely on our imaginations for entertainment.

Even after Sword was published, I was still only thinking about the next book, Elfstones.

We are constantly being put to the test by trying circumstances and difficult people and problems not necessarily of our own making.

After all, you put a lot into creating a universe and everything that goes with it, and it seems a shame to use it only once.

I would also argue that there is a good chance that an outline will help you stave off any onslaught of writer's block. Let me advise you right up front that I am not a big believer in writer's block. I think writer's block is God's way of telling you one of two things - that you failed to think your material through sufficiently before you started writing, or that you need a day or two off with your family and friends.