Ah yes, the outline. It either helps the writer know where the f*** the novel is going or it misleads with its certainty and doesn't allow room for growth. I'll be the first one to tell you that I love the outline. It has saved my stupid butt more times than I would like to admit. And yet, the limitations of it are known to me, so naturally it is a your-mileage-may-vary thing.
But, allow me to add another perspective to this argument. First off, the biggest problem with outlines seem to be the limitations it brings to the writer. Once you jot it down, it is the equivalent of the 10 Commandments Moses brought down from the mountain. God help you if you change a thing, everything will be thrown into chaos, the writerly variation of dividing by zero. Or maybe you like seeing how the story unfolds without knowing ahead of the plot. But, to be honest, I find that reason to be silly. I mean, you don't want to get spoiled by your own story? Man, must suck to be you, then. You do know how our life is gonna end, right? The same as the rest of us?
Okay, allow me to make the outline less scary and more accessible. Think of it as a sandcastle. A lovely one, crafted with your hands and mind, with the dark beige sand and nice and smooth grains. Sometimes, you get a little help from friends or strangers. You spent hours on the thing, adding the random seashells that brighten it up or a piece of trash that makes an excellent banner for the tower. You could easily place in a contest, a victory worth a round of beers from the beach bar. But, as we know from building sandcastles, whether for fun or profit, sand is a malleable thing. We can change and add to it as much as we can. And sometimes, there is a surprise rainstorm or a rogue wave or an SOB wearing socks and sandals that threaten the poor sandcastle. You can only protect it from the elements for so long. It's gonna get smacked by something, it's only a matter of when, and maybe the what.
If you think of an outline as a sandcastle, it is something you work on, is worth your time, and yet isn't as concrete. You know things could change very quickly, whether it's a surprise plot point or even a better protagonist. I agree that the outline's creative asphyxiation is an issue, but I'm beginning to think it's more of a block made by the writer than the outline itself. Writers are superstitious, things have to go very well and in certain ways in order for the writing to flow. Well, let's kick that myth down. You'll never have an ideal writing space or time. It's impossible. Stephen King typed out his early works on a child's desk in his trailer's laundry room, for Pete's sake. You can have an ideal method, but it will be tested and revamped, much like an outline would be. You have to allow for that flexibility, from yourself and from your work.
If you never tried it out, just give it a shot. You have nothing to lose. Really, you don't. How else are you gonna know if it works for you or not? You can only read enough testimonials, my dear writing peeps.
I'm just real tired of people making writing out to be this precious thing that can be only handled with kid gloves and the right amount of offerings to the muses. And while I reiterate that the outline is a preference and far from a rule of thumb, its alienating reactions from writers is something I want to end.
