Old Dog Tricks

Have you ever found yourself getting side-tracked during the course of writing? When I first started seriously writing with the effort to actually complete a full novel I abhored outlines. As I grew a bit I began to see their function in keeping a story on subject. For several books I used very detailed outlines to keep me on track and writing them was quite a joy. I recently started a new manuscript with an idea that just came one day and I didn't write an outline. It has been giving me all sorts of headaches because it keeps wanting to switch around. Maybe even 'old dogs' need to remember the new tricks and not try to revert back to their old ways. I'm definately an 'old dog' who has tried to dodge the trick.