I read essentially the same thing in On Writing, By Stephen King.

You start with an idea, a story, a character, etc.

And you add to it as it comes to you.

Write a paragraph: And then what happened?

Another paragraph: And then what happened?

Afterward, it can be a blur.

Did I write that?

This is especially true the pieces you are most proud of.

Don’t act like you don’t go back and re-read them too.

Very few writers really know what they are doing until they’ve done it.

–Anne Lamott, Bird By Bird

I like this image of writing a novel.

And in my limited experience, it sounds spot on.

You start, and you barely know what you are doing.

A few sentences, a couple scenes, and sooner or later a little more begins to reveal itself.

Eventually, you start to actually have something.

E. L. Doctorow once said that “writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”

–Anne Lamott, Bird By Bird