Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a crucial part in developing an idea for a story or a project. It’s a way to work through the premise/concept before it comes to fruition. In the beginning, an idea feels murky and unclear. It has no clear direction, but serves as an impetus–a springboard for further ideas.

I brainstorm by typing my ideas down in a blank word document. I don’t check for spelling or grammar or consistency. Usually, I don’t even go back to edit it. The point is to get my thoughts out before I forget anything.

Soon, I’ll start filling in the details to scenes and characters. The scenes will have a beginning, middle, and end. The characters start to take shape in my mind as having distinct voices and personalities. Once I finally have a vision of the story (i.e. I can picture it in my mind), I will start to work on the order of the scenes as well as the crucial moments and twists.

Brainstorming isn’t something you do in just a sitting or on a time schedule. It’s something that happens throughout the day when ideas start to randomly crop up in your mind. For example, I could be walking outside or eating lunch and I’ll have an epiphany about a scene or a plot twist. You have to be ready for the light bulb moments, and capture them on paper or type them in your phone before they disappear.

Brainstorming for some people is a visual process. They could draw a mind map, a Venn diagram, a flow chart, or illustrate the concept on a storyboard, etc. It’s a way of developing an idea and bringing the moving parts into harmony. And once the idea has been established and laid out, it’s time to manifest it into art.