Writing for the rest of us. The Rock Stars of Writing - Part 2

A brilliant architect, Frank Lloyd Wright designed by his own rules, in harmony with the environment around him. He had the creativity and vision to see what was possible, and the perseverance to see it through. To accomplish his amazing architectural feats, Frank Lloyd Wright needed a blueprint -- just like writers need an outline.
Let it all fly in your outline.
There’s nothing more liberating than writing an outline. It’s your chance to let loose with any thought and idea, without worrying about word selection, structure or flow.
Your testing ground.
The outline is where you can put down all those off-the-wall ideas, approaches and thoughts, just to see what sticks. With the outline, anything goes, in any language you want: bullets, blurbs, hell, even curse words. Whatever makes you feel comfortable for getting thoughts down, use it.  
Here are a few suggestions to get you cranking:

• Don’t waste words. No need for rambling. Just use the words you need to get across the idea. No more than that.

• Don't wordsmith. It doesn’t have to be pretty, it doesn’t have to be precise. As long as you understand what you’re trying to get across, it's all good.

• Pack plenty of bullets. Just by their nature, bullets help you keep it short and to the point. And they eliminate the need for transitions from thought to thought.

• Throw in a beginning, middle and end. Know where you’re starting, where you’re going and where you’ll end up.  Once you have that, everything else is gravy.

• Shuffle, swap, add and delete. Once your outline is in place, it’s a lot easier to arrange and rearrange, plug holes and cut out what you don’t need.

That’s about all you need to know to put together an outline. Then, when you're ready to write the final piece, you'll find a smooth road ahead.
Writing blind.
Some writers, like Stephen King, work without an outline. They like to be surprised by what they come up with. I admire their talent. But for me, I’ll stick with an outline.
If it works for Frank Lloyd Wright, it works for me.