Because writers are so sexy, right? Rob Loughran at Absolute Write has some tips on how to prevent your novel from consuming your life:

Who's right? Should writers depend on creativity and spontaneity or plan as meticulously as an engineer? The answer (as to most of life's dilemmas) is somewhere in the middle ground. If not a strict outline you should at least have a plan that includes genre, length, historical era, basic character sketches, and a short plot summary. All of which you can follow strictly or abandon when those all-too-rare moments of inspiration dictate that the story must take this direction.

But again, the most meticulous of outlines or the most profound artistic inspiration are squat if you don't plop your butt in that chair and write.

Yeah, that hot, hot, butt.