I'm surprised so many people plan to the finish line. If I do that, I just race there and skip all of the meaningful stuff that makes the story a story.
I'm in this one for comics, but for novels I'm in the "everything is set in place".
I have learned when I try to do that for comics I get bored with the project and just want to work on scenes that happen later instead of the ones I'm working on now. I don't have this issue with novels because the release speed is much faster. So I go with the "important events including the ending are set in stone but not EVERYTHING is" and allow things to evolve, because I need to be able to work on both writing and drawing at the same project to keep me interested and for the drawing part of it to not feel like a tedious endless grind.
How about none of the above, or a little of all of the above as needed?
Since most of what I write is nonfiction, I can't really do flexible endings. I usually do a very bare-bones outline, then go from there. It's the beginning and the middle that are pretty flexible, because I'm always learning more about what I'm writing even after I've officially ended the research stage and have started writing, inserting different people's accounts as I find them and where they'll have the most impact.
I definitely err toward the heavy planner option. Like, I'm far from completely rigid- dialogue especially frequently changes as I get to the page it's mean to go on, many side/minor/background characters I design on the spot when they have their first appearance (for better or worse lol), the events within a pre-planned scene might adjust somewhat based on nuances I tweaked in previous ones, and my paneling from my story board is always being changed and rearranged.
BUT I need my gameplan in place to have the confidence and drive to push a project through to completion lol. I've tried many times in the past to jump into a comic with little or no upfront planning and was never able to get very far with them. Having the whole thing plotted out gives me a tangible path to follow and milestones to hit, which is super motivating~
Granted I've so far only been working on smaller scale projects: I have a 10 page comic under my belt and nearing the end of a +/- 70 pager. If I were doing something longer- like several chapters long- I have the feeling that I would plot the whole thing out first, but only go into detailed scripting and storyboarding on a chapter-by-chapter basis, thus allowing some of those "allow the story to grow as you go along" aspects. I'm actually in the process of writing a project like this but it'll be a very long time before I'm ready to begin it, I feel. Much more planning to do first LOL
Between 1 and 2.
My story is very carefully planned because there are many subplots, the story follows several generations of characters, and plot holes could appear.. almost at every panel!
So every event is carefully thought, especially in term of causes and consequences.
But... I allow quite a lot of flexibility in dialogues, small extra events etc; removing or adding content depending on my mood. As long as it does not impact the general structure, I allow myself any changes, cuts or additions.
I have a general idea of the main thread of the story and where I want to go with it, and then I develop it on the fly. Back in time I used option 3 ... and I have a lot of unfinished stories with only a few pages that goes nowhere 
I am actually surprised in too, but the other way around. I was expecting about 20% to vote themselves "planners". 30% is not that bad.
EDIT: Parts of the content of this post have been edited for not sitting well with a few here. The parts in question may still be visible in quotes on some earlier replies to the original post. My opinions below are based on my own experience and personal success, and on the vivid results of this poll. EDIT.
Whoa yeah!
This POLL is alive and quaking. Over 60% so far going for the partly planned, flexible flowing approach of writing, and that’s not too much of a surprise.
Before I go further, a heartfelt shout out to everyone voting and commenting on here.
Now on with the analysis (ooohh, sounds so exprimenty :p)
EDIT: This is a demanding process, but it ensures comprehensive results, avoids plot-holes and the focus of the story is the ‘story’ itself with the characters written to fit into the story. Most accomplished writers would prefer to adopt this approach on projects that have a deadline or expected marketing date.
EDIT: This is a lesser demanding process, and for most beginner to moderate levels of writing a means to explore their own creativity and evolve. This approach is what most people aspiring to become successful writers may have, and as a result continue to hone their skills and craft.
Most writers who wish to be taken seriously usually range between these two approaches. Just ask most professional editors or publishers. 
EDIT: This process isn’t demanding by far and usually a lot more fun for the writer. This approach is mostly adopted by hobbyists and fan-fiction writers, and usually not those who aspire to make a sustained living from their talents. Such projects may eventually get abandoned for lack of planning and direction, or when the writer loses interest in lieu of a new curiosity or idea.
But there will be exceptions, especially if the writer is ‘gifted’ and can engage their readers, much like the bards of old whose songs and stories kept altering with each performance.
In conclusion, this isn’t a contest or grading system. There’s room for all of us types here on this cool site and in the big bad world. And we are all free to choose as we deem fit.
Now let’s get to writing, shall we? Those stories won’t write themselves. 
CHEERS!
If I take my fanfic into account, definitely option 4: All of the above, but for my novels I do try to plan everything out in as much detail as I can before I actually start writing it, or at the very least have a beat sheet in place so I know where I'm going.
A story character tends to grow out of the story’s domain when the writer gets emotionally attached to the character. Writing the story from multiple perspectives, including the antagonist/s and side characters, helps avoid this and also makes the story more rounded and multi-dimensional.
You may have misread – none of the approaches advocate planning every itty-bitty thing of the story. The beginning and the ending, overall plot and the pivotal points in between, the characters and their consequential roles in the story, all this should be framed into an outline to give the writer control. Then flesh out the details, subtleties and nuances within this set domain.
As for the journey, that’s already set in the brainstorming and pre-production stage.
If this is your hobby, great. However to make a successful comic book, the story and script best serves when it’s laid out and plotted in full, preferably with thumbs and/or storyboards before the hard work of illustration and painting can even begin. It’s absolutely horrible to get halfway through production and realise there’s something missing. Ouch!
This poll is for fictional stories. I concur, however, that writing non-fiction requires an even more strict approach than imaginative writing. There are more set parameters and tighter adherence requirements, with the possible exception of opinion pieces, but even those have to have a definite direction and ultimately rewarding destination.
Wait ... How did you come up with this analysis? 
Never mind that the people answering the poll are both artists and writers (who might have vastly different approaches considering that revising a comic is harder than revising the first draft of a novel), this would also depend on the type of person planning the story, no? Some people work better with, let's say, just story beats than a full-fledged outline including every detail. But that doesn't mean any approach is better or worse than the other or a sign of more experience/professionalism. At the very least, I doubt it's for novels (might be necessary for comics though - I wouldn't know) and you never specified you only meant comics so the poll would be skewed anyway 
I'm sorry. It wasn't clear to me that you meant only fiction.
That being said, writing nonfiction comics is no less imaginative than writing fiction. Even if I'm not making up the stories, I have to envision them happening. In some cases, I have to imagine what they look like if I can't remember and they haven't left behind a lot of color photographs to reference. I have to imagine how it'll look on a panel and how the panels look on the page before writing it in the script. And to balance accuracy with respectful handling of difficult moments or sensitive topics, I have to imagine myself in, say, 1943, going through what the people I write about endured. So there's plenty of imagination involved.
As stated at the end of my ‘analysis‘ post – this is not a contest or grading system’ it’s just a reflection on how writing as a prospective art/business could be. However, statistics for accomplishment have always shown a planned execution of any endeavour has a higher rate of success than otherwise.
Why did you assume the poll was only for comics? The poll is about the way writers approach and execute their craft (be it novels, comics, short stories, even reviews). And my opinion is from experience on what works best in this profession.
There’s no call for you to make this into an argument for any reason. Seeing as what you've mentioned about the approach you take as in 'writing from beats' fits well into the most voted option.
Yes, I agreed with you earlier. Non-fiction is harder to write with its required adherence. Imagination is definitely required when putting all of the research into words that need to generate interest.
By imagination, I meant overall, as in creating a fictional story, world building, character development, the works.
Actually, I was just trying to state my opinion, not trying to make this into an argument Being able to discuss things is something I do like about this forum though. If you don't want that, then I'm sorry. I didn't have any mean intention. Just didn't agree with your assumptions and wanted to voice that.
As for why I thought the poll might only be for comics is related to that: I can understand your assumption if it was only about comics (as I mentioned revising seems more difficult for a comic as far as I've seen here on the forums) but I'd doubt it even more if you meant to include novels.
I'm of the firm opinion that a novel doesn't need to be fully planned out to write the first draft since it'll be revised anyway regardless of the experience an author has. Maybe they won't need to revise as much with more experience but - at least for traditional novels - I think a revision is an expected stage of writing. I mean even on a professional publishing-level that's what editors are for, right?
And while you did say that this wasn't a contest or a grading system I don't think your previous post reflected that very well. I mean you wrote (sorry the actual quoting thing is glitching for me today so I'll just copy it):
Now on with the analysis (ooohh, sounds so exprimenty :p)
Have everything plotted and outlined, all the characters set in place and then flesh out each chapter in sequence, everything moving like clockwork towards a defined ending.
This is the approach of the seasoned, experienced writer with many years of experience under their belt and the primary focus here is to make a living and acquire possible fame.
which is IMO literally equating having a complete outline with experience and professionalism which ... kind of seems like a grading to me? And you didn't specify that it's just your opinion and even talked about analyzing which makes it seem as if this was a fact you somehow managed to read out of that poll. Maybe you just didn't word that very well or maybe I misunderstood but I think that reading that out of a poll that never took experience and/or making a living into the equation is completely impossible.
(As a side note: I don't agree with "However, statistics for accomplishment have always shown a planned execution of any endeavour has a higher rate of success than otherwise." being comparable here either. The poll wasn't talking about making a living, it was asking about creating a story - making a living comes after that and includes much more. Just because somebody doesn't plan as much when creating the story, doesn't mean they won't plan in terms of marketing or business aspects. - I think looking at planning and then judging based on that if somebody wants to/would be able to make a living by creating stories would be oversimplifying the process. But maybe I'm getting too science-y here ...)
And I mean you might have experienced that and you're allowed to have your opinion but I don't agree since I - as I already explained - think that different people are more suited to different approaches to story planning. And I felt that pointing that out here on the forum where we often discuss things wouldn't be a problem. If that is a problem for you, then I'm really sorry and will shut up ... in a bit after I've had my closing words.
I would just find it very sad if others felt hurt or discouraged from creating by having to read that the result of a casual poll they voted in was them being deemed as 'not experienced', 'not being one of those who aspire to make a living from their talents' or even them being likely to 'abandon their projects for lack of planning and direction'. - None of this can actually be tied to the poll and doesn't necessarily have to do anything with the actual life of the people taking part in it.
And as a side note since you seemed to assume this: My response has nothing to do with what I voted. I have found the approach that works best for me and I'm happy with that regardless of what others say. I just disagreed and wanted to point some things out. No bad intentions there 
And now I'll really shut up, my posts really tend to get too long ... 