I know that rainbows exist and people say there are pots of gold at the end. Some people also claim that they do outlines that plot a complete book before they ever type the first word. I'm willing to believe that both things are true. Of the two truths, I'm more likely to find the pot of gold than I am to outline a book. My creative process just doesn't work that way.
I suspect that the outline method works for organized souls. I imagine those writers entering a state of harmony with the universe as they fill their roman-numeral-bearing outlines from "Chapter One" to "The End." I suspect that on lots of those writers' desks you'll find the Zen Desk Gardens with all the sand and the little rake. Can't you just see one of them building up a little sand mountain as they wrestle with a plot dilemma in the "Chapter Seven" section? Perhaps other of the Zen-organized authors have desktop water fountains or rock gardens. They plot their books as they live their lives - calm, organized and focused.
Yeah, I'm poking a little fun at those outline writers in the prior paragraph but truthfully, I envy the heck out of them. I bet they never have some event happen in "Chapter Four" that changes the whole darned book. It never happens to them because they already know what's going to happen in "Chapter Five" before they ever type the first words. That stuff happens to me all the time. If it doesn't happen, if my characters don't care enough to revolt and rebel occasionally, I'm not getting it right.
I create best in chaos. I do my most persuasive legal briefs when I'm facing the deadline from Hell. I can't write at all in quiet or serenity. At home and at work I have internet radio - usually tuned to Q105 out of Tampa, Florida, the best station on the planet. If not that one, I'll tune to Sunny 103.1 out of my home town of Myrtle Beach - also a good station but nothing rocks the golden years of the 70s and 80s like Q105. Either way, I have to have sound to work to. The boss doesn't consider internet radio very professional but there are 2 reasons he doesn't quibble with mine. First, he has cable in his office - usually on mute and tuned to sports or a news channel. But he's got the gold so he rules. He could have his cable and let me have nada, but he doesn't do that. Why? Results. Nothing will win your point like results.
I'm sure a shrink would say that my chaos-driven writing is indicative of a lack of organization in my life overall. She'd be right, of course. But I believe the whole thing was largely caused by the fact that my roots are in journalism. I worked at and edited my Junior High and High School papers, worked on the college one and did stints at two professional newspapers - a daily and a bi-weekly. If you can't put together a slamming story with an editor screaming in your ear that he's got to put the paper to bed in 5 minutes then journalism isn't a good career path for you.
When I'm at home and working on my writing - which I hope becomes my full time job very soon - I still have to have my music. 
My muse won't visit if it's so quiet it's obvious I'm trying to summon her. For the love of all the writers at all the bars in the hereafter, Muse doesn't inspire when it's convenient. Why, I've had her show up in my car as I'm heading to the office when I can't even grab a pen and jot down the thought. Over a two-day period I had her detail the plot conflict for an amazing historical - but it's gone now. I think she does that sometimes just to torment me. Muse basically operates on a need-to-know basis.
At the beginning, I need to know who my characters are, what made them who they are, what made them why they are. And I need to know how they're going to meet and who the important people in their lives are who are going to help with the story. Yeah, that's right. I get the characters first. After Muse has told me all about my hero and my heroine, then she lets me type "Chapter One" and start their story. And she gives me the story in bits and pieces. Sometimes she'll disappear and leave me to flounder on my own for a while. I think it's her way of having a little fun. I imagine her in another dimension tossing back a Pina Colada with all the other Muses and laughing at the words I'm putting on my screen. I can hear her tell her friends, "Nah, I'm not letting her keep any of that. It's just good practice. It helps her listen better when I do show up."
I don't want to give you the wrong idea here. When I'm getting to know the characters, I'm also getting to know their story. It grows out of who they are, after all. And when I start a book, I have a good idea of exactly where the story is going to end up. I just don't have any idea of how the hero and heroine are going to get there. Usually, I'll have a lull as I'm getting towards the end. I'll think about it too much and imagine A could happen and then B and then C. I'll start to write it without Muse being anywhere around. And yeah, she'll be at the Muse Bar in the Other Dimension laughing at me. But at some point, she comes back and we get down to business and finally, at long last - she'll give me the ending.
Just last weekend, Muse finally gave me the ending of The Duke of Eden. It gets Brand to just where I knew he'd end up and has Adria show up at the perfect time and for the perfect reason. It's turbulent, tumultuous and totally over the top. Yeah, it's the perfect ending for Brand and Adria's story as told by the insane duck lady. And Muse was nice this time - she gave me the ending while I was actually at home and at my computer. So I pulled up a Word doc and got that baby down in note form before the inspiration left me. This ending, I won't lose and at the end of this story, the reader won't lose either.
The last part of The Duke of Eden is coming soon. I'd never give away the ending, of course, but it is one of my books so there's one thing my readers know they can count on before they ever hit the buy button -- there will be a happily ever after, guaranteed. And I'll get the story there without any kind of Zen Desk Garden, unless the dust bunnies on my keyboard count.