To outline or not to outline?

… that is the question.
Seeing as how I’ve been having a little trouble with my novel, the biggest part being the fact that I don’t write with a set goal – I just start writing and let whatever wants to come out, come out. -, has brought me to a standstill. Well, I shouldn’t say a standstill – more like a “literary downturn”, if I can poke a little fun at our current economic / political state. I don’t write with outlines – I just don’t. Then again, all I write are short stories that only have one plot point, a handful of characters, and are only a few pages in length from start to finish. It’s not that hard to let a story that short unfold on its own. Maybe I’m just a pro at it because I’ve been doing it so long, or maybe it really is just easy.
At any rate, this novel has beaten me. Sort of. My writing comes in spurts; one night I might write ten pages and then I quit for two weeks and pick up again only to write one page or even one paragraph. Then I might wait two days and write twenty pages. At this rate I’m never going to get it done.
When it comes to my short stories though, especially the ones I write for my monthly Shorts! installations, it just flows. I can sit down and write them, as is the case with the three I currently have posted, in just an hour or two. Apparently it doesn’t work that way with novels.
I think I need to give in and outline it.

Related posts:

1. Not So Short Story I’m still working on the first short story of my book. As of right now I’ve got twenty pages written...