Outwardly is about the face a person or thing shows the world, not the inside. Outwardly calm means they look calm; they may be shaking underneath. Writers like it when they want that gap — seem versus feel, tidy versus true. It is a little more bookish than on the outside or on the surface, but you will hear it. It is not a direction word. Though actually, outwardly and outwards sit next to each other in the dictionary and students swap them: outwards is towards the outside (a door, a crowd, a ripple); outwardly is “if you only look.” When someone says “outwardly everything is fine,” they are often about to tell you that it is not.