I’ve always wanted to outline a novel. I have books that present outlining systems for writers. These books attract me like bug-lights attract bugs. Unfortunately, my fate ends up being like those poor bugs flying toward the light and their doom. I think the reason I’m attracted to an in-depth outlining system is they promise a straightforward way to produce a great novel. These books break the entire writing process down into a neat and easy process. They also try to debunk the myths that outlining your story ahead of time will kill your creativity for the project. Maybe for some writer’s this is true. But as I’m finding out, not all of us. I did rough outlines for the last three stories I published. When I say rough, I mean a short sketch fit into a brief structure. And those stories have far exceeded my expectations, meaning more than one person actually read them. So I thought, alright, I must be an outliner after all. So I dove into one of these books on outlining. I came up...