I tried discovery writing only once, and it was an abysmal failure. (I have the terrific start of a story, but I have no idea where to take it; I still don't. I'm tempted to throw it out as a "finish this story" type of challenge; but since I don't have an ending in mind myself, that seems like a bit of a cheat to me.)
All of my other stories have been outlined. With one exception, my outlines have all just been in my head. The one exception
That Old Clone of Mine was one of my few multi-part stories, and it involved different threads that required precise timing in order to come together appropriately near the end of the story.
As far as I can recall, I have always stuck very closely to my outlines.
Although I usually don't write down my outlines, I will often write down as they come to me a snippet of conversation, a turn of phrase, or an odd plot twist I want to use in the story. (I often do my best writing when I am half-asleep. I'll sometimes wake myself up the rest of the way to jot things down, and then go right back to bed.)
Joy,
Lynn
p.s., Mouserocks, I love your description of your writing practices.
