When I sit to write down a story it’s slightly haphazard.
I can’t outline. I’ve tried. Constantly. It just doesn’t work for me. So I assemble all of my materials in front of me and just write.
All of my notes are in the form of outlines however. Everything has dots, dashes, and is indented. That’s the only way I can take notes. I’ve been taking notes like this since 7th grade.
All of my background and interviews are in this format. It just makes sense to me even though I can’t form a story from an outline.
As for holding onto materials, I jot random things down in whatever I have near me. If I have a notebook I write it down there. If I have my phone I type it in the Notes app. If I’m on my computer I write it in a word doc and save it for later.
So when I sit to write a story I have to find where I wrote down whatever I’m writing abut and go from there.
Once I start writing, I just take an idea and run with it. (I have to type it though, mostly because I don’t want to write it all out and then have to retype it) I write as much as I can and put in quotes then I step back.
Some paragraphs get cut and pasted to other sections of the story while some get cut all together. It’s a process that would drive most people crazy but it works for me.