Brainstorming (a.k.a. Brain pooping)

Do you have a brilliant idea for a story, but just not sure where to begin in writing it? Brainstorming is the perfect exercise for you. What? I have to exercise? (sarcasm) Yes, you’ll be exercising your brain muscles and finger agility. Brainstorming or what I like to call Brain Pooping is writing down ideas that come to mind about a certain topic or idea. Some people don’t see the need to brainstorm ideas and that’s okay. They are entitled to their beliefs; but I like throwing up my brain particles as they come on the page, so I don’t forget them.

How do you brainstorm? The first place I usually go to is a Word or Google doc and poop out as much information as I can about my story idea. This information can be as vague or as detailed as you want. There is no right or wrong idea. You can include details in your brainstorm like dialogue between characters, character descriptions, setting, time periods, descriptions of clothing, jewelry, and weapons. You can even throw in book name ideas or character name ideas. Personally, I go overboard and do all the above but if you are a minimalist like some people I may or may not know, I suggest trying to at least write down at a conflict, catalyst, climax, and solution (I’ll go over what these are at a later post if you guys want).

For my neat nicks and compulsive organizationalists like me, this part of the writing process will be a challenge. Brainstorms are not meant to be organized (I’m resisting the urge to cringe inside). Don’t worry about making your brainstorm pretty; we save that for the next step. Just focus on writing as much crap as you can about the story. If you get stuck on jotting down ideas, consider a writing sprint. A writing sprint is where you start a timer for a certain amount of time, usually 5-15 min, and just write. What you type doesn't have to be complete sentences. It could be words, phrases, descriptions, dad jokes, whatever. The main point is to keep writing for the allotted amount of time.

Another good idea some writers consider helpful is to write your brainstorm notes using the text-to-talk method on your phone while walking. That way, you are jotting notes down, but not dying inside due to the disorder happening on the page.