Speaking of index cards and process, I encourage you to check out a fabulous word-processing application: Scrivener. Merlin Mann reviews it here: http://www.43folders.com/2007/01/21/scrivener-review
and you can check it out here:http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/22995/scrivener

Richard, you're the third person who's pimped Scrivener to me recently. I'll definitely check it out. Is it just for Mac or can it run on PC? Thanks for the info.

Pretty sure it's Mac OS 10... The index card outline feature is wonderful. It also has script writing formatting features built-in. Give it a look.

There are several options now where you can have best of both worlds and run Windows on a Mac.

Holy crap, I thought I was the only one who used the "sugar rush" tactic! When I'm able (not often the past few years) I also use sleep deprivation as a method of reaching new levels.

Index cards are something I use for some projects, but not all of them. I seem to change tactics with each new story (index cards, napkins, typed documents, notebooks, loose leaf paper, note pads, etc.).