My outline beat my pantsing draft and I hate admitting it

I used to be one of those people who says outlining kills the magic. Then I spent 3 weeks in February writing a short story that went nowhere past page 9. My friend Dana asked me to try a one page outline first, and I had a full draft in 5 days. The difference was that pantsing me kept writing scenes I loved that had no job in the story. So for the outliners here, how do you keep the outline loose enough that the draft still surprises you?

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patricia_gonzalez12h ago

scenes I loved that had no job in the story" is the whole thing right there. I keep a little parking lot doc for those, and when I outline I only write down what each scene needs to get done, not how it goes down. Then the draft still has room to surprise me because the "how" is wide open.

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