When creative writers commit to writing a story about an idea, they are faced with a choice: either outline the story, or make it up as you go along in your first draft. My high school English writing teachers insisted that outlines are vital because they help us organize our thoughts, and connect them in a meaningful way. Writers know ahead of time if they have too many ideas for one part, and should add more to another part. An outline helps the final product feel coordinated. For James. J. Kilpatrick, writing is like carpentry: "The crafts of writing and carpentry are deceptively simple. The carpenter has to begin with a plan; the writer must begin with a thought...there has to be some clear notion of where we expect to be when we have finished nailing or writing". Outlining also helps creative writers break down the basics of what they are saying in a particular component, such as a paragraph or a chapter, of the story. With an outline, writers can ask themselves if they are saying what needs to be said clearly. With all the insistence that writers organize their writing with an outline, it would seem apparent that only writers that outline their stories effectively manage to make a living writing or become skilled at it. But it turns out a lot of famous writers prefer to go straight to writing the first draft. After all, outlining is not exactly writing. And writers love to write. So, why spend time doing hard work when they could go straight to the fun part? Stephen King remarked that "Outlines are the last resource of bad fiction writers who wish to God they were writing masters' theses". Writers want to be in the same position as their readers, as they read a story for the first time unaware of the twists, turns and surprises that lay in store. Storytelling is seeped by emotions, which, though I argued in a previous opinion post they were a logical aspect to the human condition, are often unpredictable. In the end, it ultimately comes down to a creative writer's personal preferences. Authors have different methods of generating work they think will delight their readers. There is no official rulebook to becoming a skilled, successful writer; they need to find their own path. Plenty of successful writers found whichever way works best for them. Ultimately, my personal preference is to outline to ensure that the ending does not disappoint. With an outline, creative writers can ensure that component of a story ties neatly without feeling like it's something that exists just to inflict an emotion on the reader. Writing is fun, but some organization can help keep it tidy. CITATION: Robinson, Caleb. “Famous Authors on Outlining a Novel — Should You Do It?” Medium, 17 Dec. 2018, writingcooperative.com/famous-authors-on-outlining-a-novel-should-you-do-it-de6f1a93eedc.

**TL;DR – It isn't productive to outline a piece of writing because it merely protects us from the fear of uncertainty and hinders discovery and natural thoughts in the writing process.** Of course it is personal preference, but it isn't productive to outline a story, poem, or whatever piece of writing you're working on. Writing is art and should not fit a certain prescription. That isn't to say that art should never be planned out, but writing, to me, is the *active* translation of thoughts into words. It should feel natural. By making an outline, the translation is no longer natural – it's a translation of thoughts that have already been realized to be an outline, not a finished piece. Getting to a finished piece doesn't have to happen right away either. Workshopping is such an important step of the writing process because it allows your work to see the light of day despite what state it's in. That little bit of clarity can transform your piece from good to great. For a piece of writing to be engaging and surprising, I believe that it can't be planned. Planning may make you realize that your ideas can't be fully realized, but why allow planning to show you that? Write for the sake of writing. Write for the sake of creating. You can discover so much during the process of writing. You can question all that you discover, and guess what? You can always go back to rewrite it. If anything, allow your first draft to be your outline. I want to conclude this with considering the difference between planning and doing. Planning can easily deceive us into thinking we're in control when it's really just a form of procrastination. It's often out of fear of uncertainty that we feel planning is necessary. On the topic of planning for goals, journalist Oliver Burkeman writes, "What motivates our investment in goals and planning for the future, much of the time, isn’t any sober recognition of the virtues of preparation and looking ahead. Rather, it’s something much more emotional: how deeply uncomfortable we are made by feelings of uncertainty. Faced with the anxiety of not knowing what the future holds, we invest ever more fiercely in our preferred vision of that future — not because it will help us achieve it, but because it helps rid us of feelings of uncertainty in the present." https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/02/05/oliver-burkeman-antidote-plans-uncertainty/