“He had a whole lot of ideas, but a whole lot of ideas isn’t a plan. A plan is a bunch of details that mesh with one another, so you go from this step to this step like crossing a stream on a lot of little boulders sticking out, and never fall in. Ideas without a plan is usually just enough bolders to get you into the deep part of the stream, and no way to get back.”
Donald E. Westlake, What’s the Worst That Could Happen?