Brainstorming Techniques for Writers

Although lots of brainstorming is done in groups, solitary brainstorming has many benefits as well. As writing is essentially a solitary activity, individual brainstorming among writers is quite common. There is a time and place to bring others in on your projects, but in general, I do not recommend group brainstorming for writers. Brainstorming helps you prepare before you begin to write. It serves to break your mind out of its usual habits and thinking patterns and it opens you up to new possibilities. Brainstorming is an essential preliminary step before you begin any writing project. Below are six brainstorming techniques that are easy and effective.

Make a Box

This technique is actually called "cubing". A cube has six sides to it, so in this technique, you look at the following six different sides of your assignment: 1) describe it; 2) compare it; 3) associate it; 4) analyze it; 5) apply it; and 6) argue for and against it.

Get Out of the Box

Whatever the parameters of your assignment are, consider the parameters of a different discipline or style and outline your paper or article accordingly. If you are writing about hybrid cars, for example, the "normal" parameters would be to consider the purpose, style, and audience; you would probably aim to inform or perhaps persuade. To brainstorm your subject using the cubing technique, you might consider hybrid cars in terms of a short story about the life of one particular hybrid car. By animating the object, you are out of the expected box and can freely let your imagination run.

Listing

To do the listing technique, you simply writing as many single words or short phrases as you possibly can in a certain amount of time. Ten minutes is plenty for this. By doing this you stimulate your brain and implant those words and ideas where you can continue to mull them over for the next few days. Let the list simmer and add to it every time you think of another idea.

Be a Journalist

Write out the answers to the six basic questions of a journalist: who; what; when; where; why; and how.

Change Perspectives

Write out your ideas from at least three different perspectives. You can write in the voice of others, in different tenses, or both. Just take three different angles to the work and see what happens.

Freewrite

This is my favorite brainstorming technique. It's like singing in the shower or dancing wildly in the kitchen when no one is home. When you freewrite, you are totally uninhibited and that critical voice in your head is silence. Write for at least 10 - 15 minutes, but if you're on a roll, by all means, keep going! Be free!

Of course there are other brainstorming techniques, but these are my favorites. I use them all in my own work and lead others through the process as well, always with positive results. One of the best benefits of brainstorming is the thrill you get when you discover new, original and great ideas!