The Handy Notebook

I love my notebook.
Before I get into this, it's important to realize that everyone has their own methods for plotting their plots and jotting their thoughts, I'm just sharing mine.
I've tried other things, sticky notes, queue cards, Word documents, fancy computer programs, but for me, when it comes to planning a story, I like to have a notebook. It's actually a bit of a problem with me, because I tend to hoard notebooks - especially the pretty ones.
It's just a way for me to put down ideas as they come to me, in no particular order. I'll have a Word document open for my WIP, where everything goes down chronologically and neatly, and I'll also have my notebook, full of drawings, random disjointed scenes, character sketches, plot summaries, and other random notes and ideas. Upside: portable. Downside: once it's in the book, it's very hard to move around and switch things up.
This doesn't work for everyone though. Other people have said that they like to have something a little more maneuverable. I talked to one person who had a big cork board and tacks, and would stick plot points and scenes and drawings onto the board. You could also do this with tape and put things on your wall or on a diorama board. I tried this, it didn't suit me. You could also do this and have a notebook, I suppose, and use them for different things. It's entirely up to you. Upside: easy to change things around, and you can also see everything at once. Downside: you'd look like an idiot carrying that around.
A lot of people I know have raved about Scrivener. Again, I tried this and didn't like it, but I can see why people would. As far as a computer writing program goes, it seems to go above and beyond. I just didn't like it seemed like too much trouble to try and understand, but if you're willing to try and sort out how it works, I think it could be a really good tool. It has folder with specific functions for pictures, notes, your main story, etc. Upsides: very neat, very organized. Downsides: a little tricky to figure out, but then so is algebra.
If you like to use your computer, but don't like Scrivener, you could simply have a lot of Microsoft Word documents open with different things in them, or Google docs if that's what you like. I use either for my main story, but you could put pictures that you've found on the internet, or scenes and such that you don't want in your main document, but you want to keep on hand. Upsides: maneuverable. Downsides: hard to get at if you want to write something down quickly, depending on your computer, not very portable.
Spreadsheets come in handy, too, if that's your thing. It's not mine, and I've never tried it so I don't really have any good advice on that one.
Alternatively, you could do none of these things, and just pants it, as so many established authors have done before you. Essentially, you write, and you don't stop writing until you have a novel. (Wait, isn't that just what NaNoWriMo is?) No planning, no forethought, just go for it and deal with the details later. Upsides: very portable, and maneuverable. Downsides: Who knows where you'll end up? I kind of feel like the Casanova mini-series with David Tennant was written this way, and if you've seen it, then you know that went to a scary place quickly. If you haven't seen, you've been warned.
Obviously, this isn't a comprehensive list by any means, these are just a few ideas if you're a new writer or if you're having trouble with how you've been doing things. The most important thing to keep in mind is that there is no right or wrong way to do things. Even within this list, you can mix and match as much as you like. Maybe you have a cork board for your plot and a notebook for you characters, or you could use Scrivener for keeping things together, but write out your main story on Microsoft Word. These are just ideas, like writing prompts. Where you go with these is entirely up to you.
TTFN,
Layla