Mishka, we have a lot in common. This is how most of my stories begin, often with the characters in my head telling me their tales and showing me different versions until they think I've gotten it right.
I find the longer the story, the more involved the characters, then those other tools can come into play and really help. It's not that I don't know the characters, it's that I have many competiting for attention.My handy dictionary and the tools in Word are my only assistants at this time. I've tried character outlines but I found them unnecessary because a character I want to write about it I already feel an understanding for, a connection with him/her, I already know them as if they're real.
When you are done with a story or you done with those characters or do you write about them again?