The writing prompt that made me ditch my whole outline method

I spent 6 months using detailed chapter outlines for every story, then a beta reader on r/writing said my scenes felt stiff and predictable... suddenly I realized I was mapping out all the surprises instead of finding them as I wrote. Now I'm torn between keeping structure or just winging it with a loose idea... has anyone else hit this wall and what did you switch to?

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nancyd8516d ago

Ditch the outline and just write into the void... that's what I did after my plot maps started reading like Ikea instructions. Ended up with a murder mystery where the killer was the dog, which honestly made more sense than my original plan. Now I keep a sticky note with three words on it and call that structure... works about as well as anything else.