Outlines - Do I really need one?

I remember the first time I tried to write a story that I thought had the potential to be a novel. I was really excited about the characters and I knew what I wanted as the end result, so I thought I would just jump in and let the story lead me. Well, by chapter three I was mortified to realize that I had made the female lead a tramp, haha. It was supposed to be a slow burn romance and she was already succumbing to his charms and the plot hadn't really had time to even get established. It was in that moment of embarrassment and mortification that I realized I was not one of those writers who could just write and let the story take them where it would. I was the kind who needed some type of outline and structure. It was a really important lesson for me because when I have outlined in the time since then I have had a much better result for actually completing a story. Short stories are exceptions for me. I tend to let the writing take me where it will for those, haha. Probably why I haven't done better in those short story competitions... hmm. 

Outlines are a topic for me at the moment because the one I had for my current story has proven to be super helpful after my time away from the story. And, yes, I was thinking about the story even though I wasn't actively working on it, but I was thinking over specific plot points I needed to iron out, not the overall story flow/pace. Getting back into writing the story, looking at the chapter outlines has been super helpful! Granted, I don't have the whole story outlined because of those points I was having to think through, but I had through what I had written so far and the next handful of chapters. I have come up with some resolutions to the plot points I was struggling with, and am working on getting the rest of it written out now that I'm back at it.   Here's hoping I not only get the outline finished soon, but the whole story finished not long after that.