How much of your outline do you follow?

[JoshRaed]

I'm saying this because of my experiences with Nanowrimo. I mostly follow it, but for like a fifth of it, I immediately realize once I start get there that it doesn't seem right so I just pass over it or I do something similar but in a way that makes more sense. I also mostly just sort of make things up that vaguely follow the list. A sentence on my outline can produce 20 pages or 20 words.

What about you though?

[ThunderChicken]

My outline is just that: an outline. It’s basically a map of where I want the plot to go. While doing the actual writing I will often take a side street that still gets me to where I’m going but in a different way. Sometimes I’ll go so far down that side street that I get butt-lost and then I have to consult the map again to find my way out.

[morganicfoods]

Oh hey, I do the exact same thing!
I find I usually deviate the most in the middle, but my beginning and end tend to follow the outline more.

[vapidink]

For my current WIP I'm following it pretty closely, but I spent a lot of time working on it and it's a more detailed outline than what I usually have. Usually, I just have a vague outline to work with, so I'm still winging it a lot of the time. Even with my current WIP, there's some things I changed up and restructured, just because there are things I hadn't fully worked out while outlining and the dots just connected while I was actually writing the story, lol.

[ralyash]

In my heart of hearts, I am a pantser, but I need outlines these days XD.
I tend to do my outlines in stages. The first stage is something really basic and very vague--like just chapter titles as stand-ins for beats to give me an idea of where it's going. As you say, a sentence can produce quite a bit.

For me actually find that if I do any more than that on a full outline, I run the risk of either:
A) planning too much by forcing in things that actually, in context, don't work for the character/event/pacing (and thereby obsoleting a lot of the work I've done on the rest of the outline).
Or B) getting that feeling of: Well, I finished the story for myself, so I don't really want to write it anymore. XD

Recently, I've been trying more detailed outlines because I'm usually working on 2-3 [serial] stories simultaneously. Without functional outlines, I risk losing my thoughts or place. With these though, I usually just plan to the end of the arc in explicit detail, so it's just a matter of filling in the details for the word count, and if I have to throw out the outline because of a snag I haven't wasted too much time XD.

[YS_og]

This is me. I have about anywhere between 2-3 major in-between points in addition, but I start and end according to the outline and anything else deviates quite a lot as the story naturally evolves and demands change. Only do I keep a few major midpoint objectives/goals the same, but anything else goes. Can't know the best way to cross the bridge until you get there, right?

[theyrebothakilogram]

I tend to draw less than I write, I'll realize some stuff isn't necessary and then I'll cut it out so I don't have to draw it

[TheLemmaLlama]

I uh, change my outline when I want to deviate from my old outline, so I end up following 100% of my final outline

(It's kind of like saying 'how closely do you follow your sketch when inking'; like if you want to change stuff, you'd redo the sketch first ... right? )

[Lensing]

I finished thousands of creative projects in the last 40 years and I never followed the
original outline / sketch and I always changed it along the way.

It just sucks when you don´t finish it and then you have to ask yourself why
you have to find the reason why you didn´t finish it

[DarkSena]

I mostly follow the lines I make, but if I feel it needs to be somewhere else then I sometimes don't follow them. My sketches are messy sometimes because I used lots of lines, so it's hard to see through for anybody else than me.

[zoleri]

I tend to start writing with barely any knowledge of what's going on or what will go on, and just let the handful of characters I've thought about carry me through a chapter of two aimlessly.
Then after I decide whether or not I had fun writing those chapters, I gradually plot out every arc of story, along with their connections to each other and main themes— so in terms of 'what happens next' I tend to stick to that very firmly in terms of progression. At the start, in order to maintain my own interest in the story, I tend to not plot out absolutely every detail, so that I too can feel a sense of intrigue and suspense, but once I feel like I'm really into the story, then I just plan it all out. There are times when I throw in an event I didn't think I would at first, but I'm always sure that it doesn't mess up the plotline before I add it.
I make sure my characters are consistent in terms of their motivations— and then I just let them lead the way. Dialogues I rarely ever think about in advance of writing, unless it's an important scene I look forward to a lot, in which case I rehearse the conversation in my head as I go about my daily life.