Outline is not necessary. Here's why...

[Jabrosky]

If I may provide another article advocating for not having an outline, here's one from the famous limyaael herself:

Jumping into oblivion, a.k.a writing without an outline

 

[Talynn]

I am a loose outliner. I have a fairly good idea where I am going, but am not afraid to follow rabbit trails. I believe there is a continuum, and that I'd fall more to the outliner end, though not rigidly. I found the article interesting, but I do have to say... I found myself a bit offended.

I've come across this "debate" before, and usually end up feeling offended. It seems to me that these article writers (and I don't want to classify ALL -- or even the majority -- of organic, pantser people this way, but it happens often enough to bother me) are saying that outliners are uncreative, paint-by-numbers, dullard lumps. That - if you outline - you have no spark, no muse, no life in your writing. That the only way one can write a "good" story is to close your eyes and let the words magically flow through you, as if channeling some spirit. I always finish these articles feeling as if I have just been called a "lesser writer" than those wild, free geniuses who pity me for my outlined straitjacket.

Pfft, ok, that was a bit more hyperbole than I would have liked. But I hope you know what I mean... No offense intended to anyone who didn't intend any!

Also, I read something once that has stuck with me, and it's helped me understand that "continuum." I have no idea who said it, but I love it:

Pantsers are just writing VERY detailed outlines; Planners are just writing VERY short first drafts.

 

[GeekDavid]

I am a loose outliner. I have a fairly good idea where I am going, but am not afraid to follow rabbit trails. I believe there is a continuum, and that I'd fall more to the outliner end, though not rigidly. I found the article interesting, but I do have to say... I found myself a bit offended.

I've come across this "debate" before, and usually end up feeling offended. It seems to me that these article writers (and I don't want to classify ALL -- or even the majority -- of organic, pantser people this way, but it happens often enough to bother me) are saying that outliners are uncreative, paint-by-numbers, dullard lumps. That - if you outline - you have no spark, no muse, no life in your writing. That the only way one can write a "good" story is to close your eyes and let the words magically flow through you, as if channeling some spirit. I always finish these articles feeling as if I have just been called a "lesser writer" than those wild, free geniuses who pity me for my outlined straitjacket.

Pfft, ok, that was a bit more hyperbole than I would have liked. But I hope you know what I mean... No offense intended to anyone who didn't intend any!

Also, I read something once that has stuck with me, and it's helped me understand that "continuum." I have no idea who said it, but I love it:

Pantsers are just writing VERY detailed outlines; Planners are just writing VERY short first drafts.

The thing that gets me about these articles and their writers is that they are -- to use a phrase from another thread -- the writing equivalent of paint-by-numbers. Everyone must follow the same rules or the Writing Police will be after you!

Writing is just as much art as painting, but how many articles do you see saying that painters must do everything exactly identically?

 

[Talynn]

The thing that gets me about these articles and their writers is that they are -- to use a phrase from another thread -- the writing equivalent of paint-by-numbers. Everyone must follow the same rules or the Writing Police will be after you!

Writing is just as much art as painting, but how many articles do you see saying that painters must do everything exactly identically?

And I resent the opposite implication (in these articles, not your post) that if you DO follow any structure, you are cold, dry, and uncreative.

 

[GeekDavid]

And I resent the opposite implication (in these articles, not your post) that if you DO follow any structure, you are cold, dry, and uncreative.

That too.

Most of my strong disagreements with other members of this here forum have been when someone gets on a pedestal and tries to proclaim, Thou Shalt Do It This Way! That just rubs me entirely the wrong way.

 

[Motley]

I don't outline. Sometimes I jot down things in order so I don't forget them (I'm almost 40!)

I always hated the way a lot of people make creative writing a story sound like assembling a book case. It's way more art than science.

Some bookcases are works of art, but they still have to hold up heavy books.
I think stories are a lot like building anything that takes creativity. Except for the truly experimental literary stuff, they do need a relatively-specific structure.

 

[Addison]

Except for the truly experimental literary stuff, they do need a relatively-specific structure.

That's mostly for non-fiction, historical fiction and science fiction because the people who read those more than often have knowledge about the subject. So if you write a scene with a low-paper laser cutting through a metal door and incapacitating the guard, they won't believe it because they'll know it's impossible and put the book down. Every book requires some sort of research, but the specific genre or sub-genre compared to your current knowledge really determines the required research.

 

[Sam Evren]

For what it's worth, I wrote 530 pages of a book without any outline at all.

And there were days that I really hated myself for it.

It wasn't that I needed structure. It wasn't that I couldn't write myself out of the particular box in which I'd cornered myself.

It was that on some days, when trying to unwrap myself from three consecutively-running plot-lines, or trying to trace the footsteps of which character was where, exactly, I left myself sitting in front of my keyboard rudderless.

I got through it, but I was, essentially, burning daylight without working while I struggled to figure out what, exactly, I should have been working on in that given space of time.

Different folks will approach writing in all sorts of different ways. What works for any given person is the truth of what works for them.

In my experience, having a map---thinking of an outline as a map I've drawn for myself---has helped me cut down on those days where my compass is spinning and the wind a mere memory in my sails.

 

[Jabrosky]

I just tried writing without any outline whatsoever and I want to take back my statements in favor of it. I definitely feel like I need to know where I am going when I write something, even if I don't jot that outline down on paper or a computer file. It's true that perfecting an outline can take work, but it's better than writing without any kind of game plan whatsoever.

 

[Addison]

To each their own. Everyone has a method that works best for them. I write by my pants and then go over to tighten it up with an outline after the first draft is done.

 

[Talynn]

Having just attempted to outline yet another story, I have come to the conclusion that outlining doesn't really work that well for me. What tends to happen is that once I string together a series of events and start fleshing out the plot, major holes appear that send the whole story crashing down. The different parts of the story that I think up just won't harmonize with each other unless I come up with some ridiculous contrivance. It's like putting together a puzzle of pieces that don't fit together.

That's why I LIKE outlines. If everything is going to come crashing down, I'd rather see it happen before I throw thousands (and thousands...) of words at it.

 

[skip.knox]

Do you ever have an outline that works fine but once you start writing the thing comes unraveled?

-= Skip =-

 

[Ireth]

Do you ever have an outline that works fine but once you start writing the thing comes unraveled?

That happens to me all the time. I've taken to outlining only a bit at a time, keeping a few chapters ahead of where I'm at in the actual writing, but keeping things loose enough to allow room for unexpected incidents or people.

 

[Penpilot]

Do you ever have an outline that works fine but once you start writing the thing comes unraveled?

-= Skip =-

Yep... but it's supposed to. No outline survives unchanged. As you write, when something deviates from the outline in a significant way, you can look at the outline and see how that change affects the rest of the story. This gives you the opportunity to either backtrack or proceed. If you proceed you edit the outline to reflect the changes.

Sometimes what appears to be a good idea at the time may not be because it spins your story in a direction you man not intend or want. Having the outline allows you to see the consequences of the change before you write 10 chapters only to realize the change isn't right.