Techniques
- Freewriting: Letting your thoughts flow by writing them down.
- Listing/Bulleting Jot down a list of words or phrases on the topic.
- Perspectives: Look at the topic from different ways.
- Describe the subject in detail.
- Trace the history of the subject or events leading to the story line.
- Map it by what the subject is related to, influenced by, who has a stake in the story.
- Cubing: Consider the topic from a six-sided perspective.
- Description
- Comparison
- Association
- Analyzation
- Application
- Argument for and against
- Clustering/Mapping: Putting down on paper a lot of different words, names, phrases in a random fashion and using arrows to tie them together.
- Audience: Defining who the story is created for.
Brainstorming Fiction
- Read a book or watch a movie/TV show in the same genre as your fiction project to help get your mind into the “feel” of it.
- Ask yourself “what if?” questions about the plot and characters.
- Play with the “who,” “what,” “why,” “when,” “where,” and “how” of the story ideas.
- Talk to others about your idea.
- Talk to others familiar with a story element: the location, a character’s career, a specific event that happens.
- Visit the location if possible, to get a “feel” of the place, the people.
Brainstorming a Memoir
- Read other memoirs to get a feel about writing styles, content.
- Look at photographs that provoke memories: families, friends, places, settings.
- Ask yourself questions about the photographs: who or what was in the photo, how you feel about them or it, etc.
- Talk to others about your memories, or to get more information.
- Ask yourself about why you are writing this memoir: to leave a legacy piece, to share the memory with others, to heal or understand yourself.
Brainstorming a Poem
- Write down whatever comes to mind or use a writing prompt.
- Play with words: list various words that fit the initial word (or topic) you wrote down initially.
- Play with synonyms and antonyms or clichés that apply.
- Consider your emotion involved while writing on the topic, use words to “show” the emotion.
Brainstorming Non-Fiction
- Think about a topic that interests you or that you have researched.
- Free-write down as many ideas on the topic that you can come up with.
- Narrow down the ideas to what you want to write about and expand upon.
- Talk to others about your ideas.