**Software Options**  
For software, ***[Balsamiq][1]*** is great for simplicity, ***[Omnigraffle Pro][2]*** is great for complexity (with templates from Konigi and others off of [Graffletopia.com][3].


**Sketching Is Way Better To Start With**  
Nothing beats sketching for getting your ideas out quickly, iterating easily, and not feeling too "in love" with creations that need to die.

**Tools for Sketching**  
These are the tools I use, Ultra Fine Sharpies in black, red, and blue, a Fine Point Sharpie in black, and a Prismacolor Warm Grey 40% marker with broad and fine tips. That warm grey marker will take your sketching to another level in terms of communicating clearly what you mean.

![Sketching Tools][4]

**Tips for Sketching**  
Sketching doesn't have to be fancy. Straight lines, text, a little shading … that's all you need to communicate volumes that can't be written. That said, I'll let my sketches tell the rest of the story.

![Boxes and Shading][5]
![Types of Text][6]
![Sketch Resolution][7]


**Sources**  
Leah Buley has terrific resources on sketching and has influenced what I know. She works at Adaptive Path as a UX Designer.

Here is [Adaptive Path's Favorite Tools for Sketching][8].

And check out Slides 16 & 25 of [Leah Buley's Good Design Faster presentation][9].

-----UPDATE------

In order to be able to collaborate better with co-workers, and give everyone a fair shot at drawing out their ideas who might not otherwise feel artistically inclined, we use myBalsamiq and love it.

  [1]: http://www.balsamiq.com/
  [2]: http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnigraffle/
  [3]: http://graffletopia.com/
  [4]: https://i.sstatic.net/hrr8q.jpg
  [5]: https://i.sstatic.net/R4E5t.png
  [6]: https://i.sstatic.net/8u1Lc.png
  [7]: https://i.sstatic.net/XeKNQ.png
  [8]: http://adaptivepath.com/ideas/d031009
  [9]: http://www.slideshare.net/pboersma/good-design-faster-at-ux-sofia