Novel, novel, on the wall.

So I mentioned at the start of the August Break that I want to start writing a novel. Let's just say, it's not so going well. I've begun; I have three characters and a setting, but that's all I have. I am currently rethinking my plan to just hack away at it, and let it become whatever it wants to be. That mumbo jumbo doesn't sound so promising when I'm sitting down to an empty page.

I recently read Susannah Conway's post on editing a book, and it got me excited, antsy for where I'll be in a year, two years, five. I want to immerse myself in the writing of this, but I can't seem to get past the first page. That's hardly enough to dunk my head in, and yet I still feel the early sensations of drowning. To make a long story short: BLEGH.

Any writers out there with tips for outlining a novel?