Sweating blood over the outline? writing an outline Outlines. Are they good, bad, needed or not required. Outlines. Are they good, bad, needed or not required. I have heard authors claim not to use one, while I’ve heard that other writers can’t write a book without an outline first. Where do I stand in all of this? Well, right bang in the middle from starting my latest book, Darkness. I am new to outlining. I admit that I don’t know a whole lot about the process, I searched the web for hours trying to finding something that would work for me to no avail (not everything works for everyone), so in this article I’d like to give you a run down on what I do and some places to find good info on outlines. Hopefully these words will give you an idea on how to write them or give you an idea on making your own style. Until recently, I never wrote an outline. I just turned on the computer, opened MS Word and away I went, typing like a madman on most occasions and on others swearing at the c...