Yes, ye gods, what have I done instead of preparing? I can't even remember - all I know is that my plot outline sort of peters out somewhere in the second third of the story, and after that I just have a few isolated scene ideas, without any clear notion of how to get from one to the other.

Actually, I think I might have been reading roleplaying manuals instead of preparing. Which is... kind of like preparing, I suppose, since my novel takes place in a world with the same general tone as the game I've been reading... ^_^;