Why I Don't Outline a Book Before I Write It

It’s interesting to me that some novelists write an outline before writing a book. I read that James Ellroy’s outlines are sometimes longer than the novels he writes from them.

I’ve never written outlines. If I knew what was going to happen, I would have no incentive to write the story, and would probably be too lazy to bother. Alfred Hitchcock said, “Once the screenplay is finished, I’d just as soon not make the film at all.” I can relate to this.

In the ear...