how I go about writing things

I've had to do quite a bit of writing already. Just recently I finished about four thousands words of what was supposed to be the best piece of writing I'd done in my life. It was on the Cuban Missile Crisis. Normally for things like that I write out a very basic and blocky outline, and as I get a better sense of what the paper will become the outline becomes more and more detailed until I eventually go through the from start to finish replacing each point and note with corresponding sentences forming the paper. It's a pretty good way to make a fluid transition from planning to writing and it's very organized too. The only problem is that you need to know exactly what you're going to say to a very detailed extent, which isn't impossible for more formal these powered arguments about history or the likes, but for everything else it's either a bit drab or completely impossible. When it comes to the sort of writing I'd do in an English class I may start with a rough outline, but everything in between is a stream of consciousness. As long as I know what I lead to lead into it works out.