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Q&A Why are outlines so essential?

It's never bad to go with the flow. In fact, there's a word for people who write like that. Pantsers. Those who write by flying by the seat of their pants. Writing an outline makes you more of ...

posted 6y ago by Stephen‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T09:59:22Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/39518
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Stephen‭ · 2019-12-08T09:59:22Z (about 5 years ago)
It's never bad to go with the flow. In fact, there's a word for people who write like that. Pantsers. Those who write by flying by the seat of their pants. Writing an outline makes you more of a Plotter. Both have their plusses and minuses and as with most things writing (point of view etc.) it's a matter of personal preference and what works for one writer may not work for another.

I personally like to have an outline. If I get stuck in one section, I can look through my outline and, with an end goal discover what I need to do to finish that section. Or, if I get really stuck, I can jump to another but, the risk with this is that by the time I get to that section, I need to make changes to make it work with what happened before.

Most writing courses I've experienced follow the mantra of "when you fail to plan, you plan to fail" and while I don't always agree with this (who needs to plan two paragraphs for a 40 line poem?), I do see its benefit at certain times.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-10-19T07:36:58Z (about 6 years ago)
Original score: 4