Pre-writing success

What sort of pre-writing have you used successfully in the past? The pre-writing tools i have used in the past that works for me has been using the thought better know as brainstorming.  Brainstorming has been great for me all these years of writing.  I just grab a piece of paper and write a few topic ideas. Then i write how key points i can made on the topic. Then the  topic i feel i 'm most comfortable with i start writing. I know if have a good opening paragraph, I know i chose the right topic to write on.