I agree with everything you said... ten years ago.

Nowadays, writing is a system for me. It is a woodworkers shop. The logs come in over here, they get shaped into planks, the planks get honed here, individual pieces get made here, the pieces get fit together over there, and at the end, the piece is sanded and finished at that last table near the door.

When I moved from a "creative" writing mindset to a "production-writing" mindset, I realized that there is no "magic" in writing. You don't need candles burning, and the lighting just so, and quiet, and all that. Now, I align the tools and the steps, and the writing happens.

I think I have reached a state like Stephen King talks about in "On Writing" where you get all the mechanical bits lined up, and then you let the creativity flow via those tools. The "system" is in place to produce great work... you just insert the creativity.

This is why I don't return to my outlines. Because when I write my outline I am thinking about how I am going to consume that outline at the next step. So when I get to the next step, I consume the outline, and out comes the first draft. When I get to the second draft, I consume the first draft, and output the second draft. It's a linear process for me.

And it works for me. (Clearly doesn't work for KB, though!)