How Many Outlines is Too Many Outlines?

I've never been one to plan out my writing.

I've actually not planned it out so much, that it's rare that I get through anything that I was writing. It was my worst habit, starting something, having a great idea or scene, and then allowing it to fade off into the sunset.

It was a miracle that I finished my play, and I think the only reason I was able to finish that, was because it reminded me of bare bones. I'm still not good at writing very long pieces, and the full story for Elah is going to be an incredible feat.

This isn't about Elah, it's about outlining. I'd like to think that the play is something of an outline for the story, although there are large differences, and sub-plots that I couldn't even write in, I know where the story is going, and what kind of people the characters are.

The first story I've actually fully outlined is called Front of the Whorehouse. It's a fantastic piece, and it's so settling that I know exactly where it's going to go. I love that I know where it's going. With each page I write, I know I'm one page closer to the next bullet mark. With each bullet mark, I know that I'm one step closer to finishing the story. I love that idea, it lets me know that I have 70% more to write (and, maybe 100 more pages). It's not that staggering anymore.

But with that first outline, it made me go gung-ho, and I'm on an outline kick. I've written full outlines for five more stories. Five more full short stories.

I haven't even started these others, and I'm afraid to. I don't want to overwhelm myself with too many projects, but at the same time, I don't want to focus too much on one story, and have my creativity burn out with it. This is such a jacked up conundrum. Considering that I can only go through a few pages a day, if I'm lucky, it might be better for me that I try to spread myself a bit more.

For the moment, I'm just going to continue writing for this particular story as much as I can. I want to complete this, before I start putting all of my energy into something else. I'm trying to learn how to throw myself into my work.

I wonder if anyone else goes on an outline bender...

Well, I should get back to my work.