Pebblepup's Writing Den

There are many forms that brainstorming can take. There’s the free writing form, the mind mapping form, the what-if game, the pluck an idea from the news or other media, starburst form and many others. I’ve talked about some of these forms at various times in this blog.

What I haven’t talked about is multiple person brainstorming. That’s where a group of people sit around a table and toss out ideas without worrying about whether the idea is good or not. This can generate a number of ideas to solve a problem. This is a good method for writing teams. If you don’t write with a partner or partners, you can still sit down and write down ideas as they occur to you. That’s basically all that is.

Free writing is one of my favorites. For that, you just sit and write for a specific amount of time and write down whatever comes to your mind. This can also be done with a partner or a group. Then all you need do is choose and idea to run with.

The what-if game is where you take a scenario and ask what if x happened instead of y. Then write the story. For example, what if Lindbergh didn’t make it across the Atlantic? Or what if Amelia Earhart had not disappeared? Both could generate good stories.

I recently generated an idea for a story from YouTube. It was a relaxation music video with a still picture of a house perched on a rock pillar and connected to neighbors with a log and rope bridge. I wondered who lived there. That story idea is under development.

The star burst form involves asking who, what, how, where, when and why. This is another one that lends itself to both one person or multiple people. This form is good when you have an idea and need to know if you should proceed with it.

I call that a second stage brainstorming. Looking at my idea from the YouTube image, these are some questions you can ask. Who lives in the house? Why do they live there and not on a spacious area of ground? Where is this house? When is this house inhabited (time period)? How was the house built there? What prompted them to live there?

Brainstorming is a good way to come up with ideas. Whatever method you use, it can be a great tool in your writer’s toolbox. So take some time to sit down and brainstorm. You don’t have to use the methods I listed here, there are more forms available online. Just enter brainstorming techniques into your favorite search engine and pick one.
I brainstorm on a regular basis, which means I have a backlog of ideas. You can even use such a backlog to spark another brainstorming session. However you do it, brainstorming is a great way to find kernels of story that you can grow into a short story, screen play, or novel. Good luck and keep writing.