It recently occurred to me, that I write the same way that I prepare for a trip.

Whenever I am going away, I open my suitcase, and toss in some items that I may or may not bring. Then before leaving, I empty out the contents and repack my luggage in an orderly fashion.

When I write, I start out with a long, scribbled list of sentence fragments. Then, I organize and edit all of these thoughts, until my best ideas are neatly packed into my latest article.