Let your characters surprise you

Planning is great. Planning your story can help you write a cohesive and complete first draft that will require less editing in the end.

In all your planning, though, don't stop yourself from letting your characters surprise you.

Maybe one is kinder than you expected. One might have a skill that they were hiding from you. One might decide that they have more to give the plot and appear in more scenes than expected.

You can plan your story all you want, but if you want to keep your story fresh, let your characters surprise you and show you where they want to go.