I write all my stuff in Guitar Pro, so I can keep track of it all, and don't forget any riffs. Which is brilliant because I love going back and sometimes using stuff I wrote 5 years ago. So I usually start with a good riff, or bit on the piano and then work back the ways if I think there could be a better intro, and then forwards. My stuff tends to be Intro Section, different section, different section, different section . etc ....Outro, so I usually write it all in the order it plays with a "what would be good next", "what's an unexpected lead on from there" train of thought, trying to keep a balance of where any solo's, quiet bits, or vocals go to keep it interesting. Vocals usually fall into place at the end, as death grunts don't need melodically specific and I treat them like another instrument anyway. With songs I wrote and brung in for Isylore to do, I'd take in the basic song and we'd add bits and pieces to make it more interesting to play live and give it a bit more character, particulary bits you could never capture writing in MIDI. There are a few disadvantages and advantages of writing guitar based music in MIDI. Advantages are that you come up with a lot of nice technical bits of music that you'd never ever think of mucking about on the guitar, and especially not have the time to plan out and organise in a live jamming situation. Disadvantages are that I wrote stuff that was too hard to play and you never get a true sense of what a song would sound like live through a MIDI playback.