/lit/ - Literature

Let's talk about writing, /lit/.

I don't quite get it. I can sit in front of a blank page and maybe write a few pages, but i don't get how people draw entire novels of fiction from their entire minds. The level of detail involved in even a simple novel is staggering. Do you just write one sentence at a time, evolving as you go? Do you heavily outline your plot structure and the nature of your characters before writing actual narrative? Perhaps i should start with some sort of message or theme, and develop my characters and narrative structure from that idea? It's just such a staggering leap to go from nothing to something, and i've entered quite a block. Advice? I'm sure other people on /lit/ have writer's block.

Out of curiosity has anyone ever met an actual Randian objectivist? I think they might be a group of irl trolls.