To Outline or Not

Do you create an outline before you write your stories?

I've been reading a lot about outlining. Authors that do it, authors that don't, some who just jot down scene titles and some that use complex color-coded plotting charts.

I've discovered that I'm a plotter by nature. I come up with scene ideas, jot them down and then I have to put them into the sequence of my story before I begin writing. It gives me a goal to write towards ... but I hold it all loosely and I can change the goal/end-game in the midst of my writing, so it's very flexible and just acts as a sort of skeleton that I adapt as I go. I also like knowing the end of my story beforehand ... even though that might change as well as the story develops, in the beginning I have to have the ending formed before I start.

Do you outline? If you do, do you do it loosely or more complex?

Thank you most Hartly,
J.J. Harlty