I'm having trouble getting started again after 10 years.

[Gamblnluck]

I do not outline. I sometimes get an idea and then begin to 'tell' myself the story while doing other things, like mowing the lawn. It fleshes out the idea. I see loopholes or plot breaks. Then I begin to put that down as a story. As i get possible ideas, i write notes at the end of the story. Some of those ideas I put into the story, some I discard or use later.
Then I let the story sit for a day and begin to edit. For me, this edit is not to correct grammar and punctuation. It is to flesh out the story. I often almost re-write chapters and sometimes change the direction of the story. Of late, (past year or so) I have let a couple friends beta readers have a look. Often their comments range from not being able to follow or not liking my direction and making comments. Genereally after several re-writes, I have something to submit.... or put back into my draft files as a reject.

 

[Euphony]

Characters are the axis around which all story revolves for me. The deep work of dialing in their gravity keeps plot, theme, actions, etc. from floating off into dark space.

I am a HUGE fan of the character "interview." As many of my stories are inspired from interviews, it's a natural transition to build on their foundations to tell the story my interviewees lived but don't have the storytelling ability to create readable fiction of.

 

[jsmiam]

I outline, but when you’re good at using your stated word processor, there’s a blurred line between outlining and writing.

My outline is more part of the creative process than strict rules. I’d call it storyboarding with words.

And outlined with multi level bullets. And if a specific sentence or section strikes me, it’ll turn into fully writing that specific part of the story, even if I’m mainly still outlining.

And it’s easier to get ideas and make changes on the fly if they hit me. Usually good ideas come, just as they might (and do) while mainly writing.

Then fill in the full text in the same document.

A sidenote: for large scale rearranging during an outline phase, I don’t see how people can do that properly on a device without a real keyboard and real mouse. They do it, or claim to do it. To me, it’s “running in flip flops.” (Flip flops = thong SANDALS in much of the world. I repeat. Sandals.) People who like to argue will proclaim they run in flip flops just fine. To me, my real computer, keyboard, and mouse is my symbolic pair of running shoes.