1. First of all, I try to make a whole book outline. By the end of the book it will be vastly different, but I need to think I know where I’m going. It looks like this:
The post-its on motivation were new this time around, but I put them at the bottom of my full chapter outline. I’m only through three chapters and this has already changed. The line through 17-20 means the end will be completely different.
Once I got through the first 2 chapters, I needed to revise. I focused more on chapters 4-9, then very generally outlined the rest (leaving a few empty, 10 and 11 for example).
Tonight, I was trying to decide what to do with chapter four. If I wanted to push up some events, or have some other things happen first. So, I focused only on chapter four. I doodled a lot, crossed out some ideas, but eventually came up with the events I want to happen in chapter four.
I do all of my main writing on the computer, or if pressed on my itouch with plain text, but when I’m outlining or brainstorming, I usually have to do it manually with paper and writing utensil. I have folders full of little scraps of paper that look like this. Like I talked about deleting yesterday, I have a hard time throwing them away.
Maybe if one of these stories ever gets published I’ll have the guts to toss all my be-doodled notes.
Also, I was interviewed today over at From Fact To Fiction, so you should go take a look!
Nicole Helm 
LOL I think your left handed writing is very impressive. I think there’s been studies that show writing can be linked to the creative part of your brain so perhaps that’s why you like to outline and brainstorm with the good ol’ pen and paper?
Even in school I always learned/remembered best if I wrote something down, so my brain is definitely wired to something when it comes to actually writing.
I like the idea that writing is linked to the creative part of your brain. I know when I’m really stuck I definitely get the itch to actually physically write, so that makes sense!