Good article, though I don't entirely agree with the "ditch plot outlines" ideology. I'm a planner, and with my own novels, I tend to work backwards from the ending (because I won't write a novel unless I first have an ending that blows me away). But the details of that ending are all led by characters who have made decisions to get to that point, not external forces. I ask the question: Why would this character end up here? Through what choices? Therefore, out of the ending come character profiles, and from there I shape the journey they take to reach the ending, based on who they are. So in that sense, I do agree with you.