Stole this post and my comment from Charles French (frenchc1955). I also like the contrarian things King says in several of these points.
“I especially like the point King makes about not plotting. I discovered that I also tend to create situations that simply lead to scenes. I generally sort of know how the final confrontation will work out (in a mystery you do need a sense of how all will be revealed as well as what will be revealed), But I learned that if I knew every twist and turn along the way, all the fun of discovery went out of it for me. Characters often do unexpected and entertaining things if you give them room. One of my colleagues once said, ‘No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader,’ and I’ve found he’s right.”
Just Can't Help Writing 