Outlines: Yay or Nay?

As a writer, do you use outlines for your work? Why or why not? (Don’t forget to check out today’s free writing prompt at the bottom of this post.) [Ed. from the Archive.]

As a writer there are times I use outlines, and times I prefer not to use them. I know some writers swear by using outlines regardless of what they're writing while others refer to themselves as 'pantsers' instead, preferring to fly (or write, as it were) by the seats of their pants. Personally, I generally fall somewhere in between. I am not a diehard …