--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Because I don’t work with an outline…" description: "\"Because I don’t work with an outline, writing a story is like crossing a stream, now I’m on this rock, now I’m on this rock, now I’m on this rock.\" — A..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e4/ann-beattie-14884_crossings_because-i-don-t-work-with-an-outline-wri_2359109.png" --- # Because I don’t work with an outline, writing a story is… ![“Because I don’t work with an outline, writing a story is like crossing a stream, now I’m on this rock, now I’m on this rock, now I’m on this rock.” quote by Ann Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e4/ann-beattie-14884_crossings_because-i-don-t-work-with-an-outline-wri_2359109.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e4/ann-beattie-14884_crossings_because-i-don-t-work-with-an-outline-wri_2359109.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e4/ann-beattie-14884_crossings_because-i-don-t-work-with-an-outline-wri_2359109.png) > “Because I don’t work with an outline, writing a story is like crossing a stream, now I’m on this rock, now I’m on this rock, now I’m on this rock.” [Ann Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Lack of planning leads to a fragmented, repetitive creative process, hindering narrative flow. **In simple terms:** Writing without outline feels disjointed. Key Takeaway Use a roadmap to guide story development. Themes writing creativity structure Mood analytical practical Type creative process When to use this quote - novel drafting - screenwriting - blog posts - project planning Key Concepts narrative design process management focus Questions to Reflect On - How much structure do you need? - When to you allow improvisation? A Different Perspective Over‑planning can stifle spontaneity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Crossings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crossings/) [Outline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outline/) [Outline Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outline-writing-2998386/) [Outlines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outlines/) [Rocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rocks/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Streams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/streams/) [Work Outline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-outline-300986/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-story-356647/) ## Related quotes > [A lot of people think that they are really cool because they don't outline. In my writing group, they would say, "I will never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-de-la-pena/a-lot-of-people-think-that-they-are-really-cool-because-they-don-t/) [Matt de la Pena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-de-la-pena/) > [The more work you put in on your outline and getting the skeleton of your story right, the easier the process is later.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-goddard/the-more-work-you-put-in-on-your-outline-and-getting-the-skeleton-of/) [Drew Goddard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-goddard/) > [I don't work with an outline, except a vague one in my head, a general idea of character, place, arc... I'm like a composer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/said-sayrafiezadeh/i-don-t-work-with-an-outline-except-a-vague-one-in-my-head-a-general/) [Said Sayrafiezadeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/said-sayrafiezadeh/) > [I always work from an outline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-mlynowski/i-always-work-from-an-outline/) [Sarah Mlynowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-mlynowski/) > [I always work from outline and almost always write out of sequence. It just works for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-s-kemp/i-always-work-from-outline-and-almost-always-write-out-of-sequence-it/) [Paul S. Kemp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-s-kemp/) > [I never outline. I don't work from an outline. I have no idea where the book is going. I mean, even two-thirds of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/i-never-outline-i-don-t-work-from-an-outline-i-have-no-idea-where-the/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [I never work from an outline, and often I dont know how the story will end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-maclachlan/i-never-work-from-an-outline-and-often-i-dont-know-how-the-story-will/) [Patricia MacLachlan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-maclachlan/) > [“The easiest way to write a book is to use the Table of Contents as an outline. People get stuck when they think in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kytka-hilmar-jezek/the-easiest-way-to-write-a-book-is-to-use-the-table-of-contents-as-an/) [Kytka Hilmar-Jezek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kytka-hilmar-jezek/) > [Partly because of the way I write - I don't work with an outline or in a straight line. I work where I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/partly-because-of-the-way-i-write-i-don-t-work-with-an-outline-or-in/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [I've found that in fiction - and this is just the kind of writer I am - I can't really work from an outline.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-ve-found-that-in-fiction-and-this-is-just-the-kind-of-writer-i-am-i/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [I don't plot the books out ahead of time, I don't plan them. I don't begin at the beginning and end at the end.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/i-don-t-plot-the-books-out-ahead-of-time-i-don-t-plan-them-i-don-t/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [I always work from an outline, so I know all the of the broad events and some of the finer details before I begin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mercedes-lackey/i-always-work-from-an-outline-so-i-know-all-the-of-the-broad-events/) [Mercedes Lackey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mercedes-lackey/) > [I never work from an outline, and often I don't know how the story will end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-maclachlan/i-never-work-from-an-outline-and-often-i-don-t-know-how-the-story/) [Patricia MacLachlan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-maclachlan/) > [Writing is difficult. It's a time commitment, it's labor and I'd have to get myself to sit down and actually do the work and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/busy-philipps/writing-is-difficult-it-s-a-time-commitment-it-s-labor-and-i-d-have/) [Busy Philipps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/busy-philipps/) > [My general writing preface is to write an outline and then ignore about half of it, both on a micro level with the individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-handler/my-general-writing-preface-is-to-write-an-outline-and-then-ignore/) [Daniel Handler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-handler/) ## More by Ann Beattie > [Clouds are poems, and the most moving poems linger on the blackboard so long, written in cursive so lovely, they also exist inside our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/clouds-are-poems-and-the-most-moving-poems-linger-on-the-blackboard/) [Ann Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/) > [If you could have a book called My Favorite Six Stories, I don't think I'd have trouble doing that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/if-you-could-have-a-book-called-my-favorite-six-stories-i-don-t-think/) [Ann Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/) > [Nobody can assume that, to a writer, everything is off-limits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/nobody-can-assume-that-to-a-writer-everything-is-off-limits/) [Ann Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/) > [“This is a story, told the way you say stories should be told: Somebody grew up, fell in love, and spent a winter with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/this-is-a-story-told-the-way-you-say-stories-should-be-told-somebody/) [Ann Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/) > [“This is a story, told the way you say stories should be told: Somebody grew up, fell in love, and spent a winter with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/this-is-a-story-told-the-way-you-say-stories-should-be-told-somebody-2/) [Ann Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/) > [There is some reason, obviously, that you are drawn to your material, but the way in which you explore it might come to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/there-is-some-reason-obviously-that-you-are-drawn-to-your-material/) [Ann Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/) > [I don't even correct people when they mispronounce my name now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/i-don-t-even-correct-people-when-they-mispronounce-my-name-now/) [Ann Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/) > [Also minimalism is a term that all of us who share so little in common and who are lumped together as minimalists are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/also-minimalism-is-a-term-that-all-of-us-who-share-so-little-in/) [Ann Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/) > [Italics provide a wonderful advantage: you see, right away, that the words are in a rush. When something exists at a slant, you can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/italics-provide-a-wonderful-advantage-you-see-right-away-that-the/) [Ann Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/) > [I think I write about things that are mysterious to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/i-think-i-write-about-things-that-are-mysterious-to-me/) [Ann Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/) > [Whatever one intends, the work takes on a life of its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/whatever-one-intends-the-work-takes-on-a-life-of-its-own/) [Ann Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/) > [I like a lot of Margaret Atwood, I like much of Alice Munro. Again, if you were to ask me about male writers, there's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/i-like-a-lot-of-margaret-atwood-i-like-much-of-alice-munro-again-if/) [Ann Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/) > [It's not about having things figured out, or about communicating with other people, trying to make them understand what you understand. It's about a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/it-s-not-about-having-things-figured-out-or-about-communicating-with/) [Ann Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/) > [What will happen can't be stopped. Aim for Grace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/what-will-happen-can-t-be-stopped-aim-for-grace/) [Ann Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/) > [I don't write about things that I have the answers to or things that are very close to home. It just wouldn't be any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/i-don-t-write-about-things-that-i-have-the-answers-to-or-things-that/) [Ann Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/) [Explore all 45 Ann Beattie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/) ## More Crossings quotes > [Because after you've crossed some lines, you just keep crossing them. And there's no escaping from constant escape. Distracting ourselves. Avoiding confrontation. Getting past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/because-after-you-ve-crossed-some-lines-you-just-keep-crossing-them/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [Letters crossing in the post, unfamiliar tunes heard three times in one day, the way that blows of fate descend upon the same bowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/letters-crossing-in-the-post-unfamiliar-tunes-heard-three-times-in/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [If a man is crossing the river and an empty boat collides with his skiff, even though he is a bad tempered man he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhuangzi/if-a-man-is-crossing-the-river-and-an-empty-boat-collides-with-his/) [Zhuangzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhuangzi/) > [History is the heavy traffic that prevents us from crossing the road. We're not especially interested in what it consists of. We wait, more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mal-peet/history-is-the-heavy-traffic-that-prevents-us-from-crossing-the-road/) [Mal Peet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mal-peet/) > [The world is full of banks and rivers running between them, of men and women crossing bridges and fords, unaware of the consequences, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arturo-p-rez-reverte/the-world-is-full-of-banks-and-rivers-running-between-them-of-men-and/) [Arturo Pérez-Reverte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arturo-p-rez-reverte/) > [Thus I began my systematic though half-bewildered tour of Innsmouth's narrow, shadow-blighted ways. Crossing the bridge and turning toward the roar of the lower…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/thus-i-began-my-systematic-though-half-bewildered-tour-of-innsmouth-s/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [She's quite skinny, like me, but nice skinny. Roller-skate skinny. I watched her once from the window when she was crossing over Fifth Avenue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/she-s-quite-skinny-like-me-but-nice-skinny-roller-skate-skinny-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A critic is a gong at a railroad crossing clanging loudly and vainly as the train goes by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-morley/a-critic-is-a-gong-at-a-railroad-crossing-clanging-loudly-and-vainly/) [Christopher Morley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-morley/) > [Equal partnerships are not made in heaven-they are made on earth, one choice at a time, one conversation at a time, one threshold crossing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-c-hafen/equal-partnerships-are-not-made-in-heaven-they-are-made-on-earth-one/) [Bruce C. Hafen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-c-hafen/) > [My wife's brother has a little house on a small island in the Baltic Sea, and we go there at Christmas. 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It was torn, so I looked in.” She lifted one of a stack of firefighter calendars, with his own mug…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-shalvis/you-had-a-package-it-was-torn-so-i-looked-in-she-lifted-one-of-a/) [Jill Shalvis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-shalvis/) [Browse all 327 Crossings quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crossings/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Because I don’t work with an outline, writing a story is like crossing a stream, now I’m on this rock, now I’m on this rock, now I’m on this rock.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ann Beattie" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/because-i-don-t-work-with-an-outline-writing-a-story-is-like-crossing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Crossings" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/because-i-don-t-work-with-an-outline-writing-a-story-is-like-crossing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e4/ann-beattie-14884_crossings_because-i-don-t-work-with-an-outline-wri_2359109.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e4/ann-beattie-14884_crossings_because-i-don-t-work-with-an-outline-wri_2359109.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e4/ann-beattie-14884_crossings_because-i-don-t-work-with-an-outline-wri_2359109.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Because I don’t work with an outline, writing a story is like crossing a stream, now I’m on this rock, now…” — Ann Beattie", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ann Beattie", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-beattie/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Because I don’t work with an...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/because-i-don-t-work-with-an-outline-writing-a-story-is-like-crossing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-beattie/because-i-don-t-work-with-an-outline-writing-a-story-is-like-crossing/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```