While I still think you need to watch out for that, I also appreciate that not everyone thinks or works the same way. So there are definitely going to be people who are successful who do not follow ‘common wisdom’ or the common writing path. You just have to decide where you fit.

I think a good outline is key. I think that is the only reason I have been able to keep going on Roxy. For once, I have an outline. That’s not to say the outline hasn’t changed since I first wrote it, it has to a small degree. And my outline is pretty flexible, with lots of room for unplanned details. But at the same time a lot of details are in my head just waiting to be written.

It’s more like I made a list of 30 dots and I have to connect one dot to the other, or one chapter to the other, and it doesn’t matter what happens in between those dots (aka the beginning and ending of chapters) as long as the journey between the dots makes sense. So there is a lot of wiggle room between the dots.

Did that make sense? I’m just trying to say, you needn’t feel boxed in with an outline. They don’t have to be meticulous to still function for the story.