Favorite Brainstorming Techniques?

[OuttaInc]

Soooo what's everybody's favorite brainstorming technique for getting yourself out of a pickle in your writing?

For me, the King-of-Ideation is the simple Random Input technique: boil your problem down to a representative word or phrase, and then pick another word or phrase completely at random. Then explore the landscape of solutions between the two concepts via free association or mind-mapping, and see what wonderful ideas occur.

I've solved so many plot holes this way, it's incredible, like magic.

It's also good for coming up with themed stories out of the blue (eg, if you're stumped on what to write for the 75- or 100-word challenges.)

The trick is to make sure the random input truly is random, and not too close to your start point. watchout4snakes.com is a good random word generator as is the WordWeb app (basically a dictionary with a "shake to randomize" feature).

Anybody have any other techniques they like?

 

[Harpo]

When I’m brainstorming I start by writing the letters A-Z down the side of the page, then fill each line with a simple nonsense idea (eg: angling for complaints; Boxing Ring Cycle; chocolate origami; etc) then for each simple idea, try to expand it into a paragraph to give more context beyond wordplay. And then put it away for a couple of days.
Perhaps I might then take the similar paragraphs of a few days before, look at them with fresh eyes, and whichever makes me laugh most I’ll try to expand to whatever I can come up with over an hour or three.

 

[sknox]

I've never understood brainstorming or been able to do it. To me, it's just thinking. Sure, grab random input and then think, but at the end it's the thinking that counts.

When it comes to telling a story, I've never had a shortage of ideas. Then again, I write novels, so the need for a new story idea happens only once every couple of years. If I were trying to make a living back in the day, cranking out short stories every week or two, that's a whole other ball game.

I do need ideas when in the midst of a story. But there, I already have characters and setting and plot. They're all half-formed and nebulous, but I need to solve a story problem or decide on a direction or action for a character. In such situations, I absolutely do not want random input because the likelihood of it being in accord with the character, plot, setting, is near to zero. I don't need characters to behave out of character, plots to develop holes, or settings to shift inexplicably. I need development, not lurches.

So, rather than brainstorms, I have simmers. I let the questions hang. I think about them. I not-think about them. I work on other parts of the story. I wring my hands anxiously. I'll even drag a problem here and drop it like a lost kitten. IOW, I work on it.

I do see that others use brainstorming techniques successfully. I envy them. Heck, I envy any writer who has a method or approach or a lucky talisman that works!

 

[therapist]

I was about to try and brainstorm an idea for the 75 word challenge. So i'll put the methods here to the test.

I learned a technique from another writer called the list technique. Basically, you set a timer for 10 minutes, and force yourself to come up with ten or more ideas before the timer runs out. The timer is the key component here, I feel like it activates another part of your brain. It forces you to let go of your quality filter, burn through all the easy/bad ideas, and start digging into the real stuff.

 

[OuttaInc]

When I’m brainstorming I start by writing the letters A-Z down the side of the page, then fill each line with a simple nonsense idea...

That's a new one for me. Adding it to my toolkit today. Thank you!

I do see that others use brainstorming techniques successfully. I envy them. Heck, I envy any writer who has a method or approach or a lucky talisman that works!

For anyone curious about brainstorming techniques, they can be taught. Check out the book Thinkertoys by Michalko. It's aimed at corporate types, but the techniques themselves can be applied to any field, including creative writing.

Another good resource is Wondrium's The Creative Thinker's Toolkit. Wondrium is a streaming subscription service but many libraries carry access to their content for free via The Great Courses Bingepass through Hoopla.

I was about to try and brainstorm an idea for the 75 word challenge. So i'll put the methods here to the test.

Good luck! I'm still working on two other short stories that came about from brainstorming ideas for themed entries, so I don't think I'll make this month's contest, but let us know how it all went for you after voting is over and you're allowed to talk about it!

I learned a technique from another writer called the list technique. Basically, you set a timer for 10 minutes, and force yourself to come up with ten or more ideas before the timer runs out. The timer is the key component here, I feel like it activates another part of your brain. It forces you to let go of your quality filter, burn through all the easy/bad ideas, and start digging into the real stuff.

Exactly! The timer works on the principle that your first 2 or 3 ideas are usually the most common ones, and it's not until you get to idea #4 or #7 that things really get interesting (or novel or innovative). Most of the books/courses I've seen start with the "10 ideas a day" exercise or "10 minutes of ideas" exercise. Both encourage you to go past your first few hunches and really dig deep for new ideas.

 

[Wayne Mack]

Soooo what's everybody's favorite brainstorming technique for getting yourself out of a pickle in your writing?

I'm assuming the question is not about creating an initial idea, but about furthering a plot line.

My favorite technique is to write backstories. These are 500-2,500 word scenes that may reflect an important character's history, a precipitating event, events occurring in parallel to the story but unseen by the reader, essentially anything that helps define the context of what will happen next. I usually have a vague sense of these things when writing, but forcing myself to make some explicit decisions on the characters and what has already happened usually leads me to discover the 'obvious' next step.

 

[OuttaInc]

I'm assuming the question is not about creating an initial idea, but about furthering a plot line.

It's however you use brainstorming/creativity techniques. I never used to need such tools for getting an initial idea because I have more ideas than I know what to do with. But recently I started trying my hand at themed contests and sometimes a themed story just doesn't come to mind. So I'll rely on mind-mapping or Story Cubes to brainstorm ideas.

My favorite technique is to write backstories. These are 500-2,500 word scenes that may reflect an important character's history, a precipitating event, events occurring in parallel to the story but unseen by the reader, essentially anything that helps define the context of what will happen next. I usually have a vague sense of these things when writing, but forcing myself to make some explicit decisions on the characters and what has already happened usually leads me to discover the 'obvious' next step.

Agreed. This is crucial for me. (Interestingly, I find that journaling generates similar benefits for my own real-life situations. There's just something about putting thoughts down in pen and ink that allows me to see them more clearly than when they're floating around in my noggin.)

 

[therapist]

Btw @outtalnc I tried your brainstorming method with the random word generator. It worked brilliantly. Gave me my story idea for the 75 worder.

 

[OuttaInc]

Btw @outtalnc I tried your brainstorming method with the random word generator. It worked brilliantly. Gave me my story idea for the 75 worder.

Wow! That's fantastic! Kudos to you for exploring that method and forming those new connections into a story.

(PS- as much as I'd love to take credit for it, Random Input isn't my method. I believe that honor goes to Edward De Bono and his book, Serious Creativity.)

 

[THX1138]

I tend to rely on thinking about the theme and genera, then on an event and/or emotion. This has worked very well for me as far as the 100 worders go. Maybe too well as I can write 3-4 stories in just a few hours as long as I alternate between two genera's, to allow my subconscious to do its thing. I need to try this for the 75 and 300 worders too, and these next upcoming ones I'll write 2-3 different stories in one go before picking one to submit.

For my novels, I too have a journal and character sheets for each novel but rely on watching documentaries on varying topics and visiting museums and art galleries, (In person or online.) Another trick that works for me is to stand in a location in our house that I have never stood in or never would have stand in, like a forgotten corner, at various times of day and night, and just study the whole view from this new perspective. It may sound strange, but as I do so while thinking about my story I start coming up with new ideas. I do this also outside when working in the garden or on walks at times.

Also, I too will put my writing down and go do something different all together and let my mind wonder.

 

[THX1138]

I was about to try and brainstorm an idea for the 75 word challenge. So i'll put the methods here to the test.

I learned a technique from another writer called the list technique. Basically, you set a timer for 10 minutes, and force yourself to come up with ten or more ideas before the timer runs out. The timer is the key component here, I feel like it activates another part of your brain. It forces you to let go of your quality filter, burn through all the easy/bad ideas, and start digging into the real stuff.

I just played around with that too. Pretty cool!

 

[Cthulhu.Science]

When I am stuck I often do stream of consciousness. Simply throwing down on the page a rant about everything even tangentially related to where I am going. I put in "absurdities" and "insults" and turn the page into a psychological exam. I then get another cup of coffee, come back and review what I've written. Sometimes all I get out of it is a psychological exam.

 

[Cthulhu.Science]

I'd like to offer a link to paper published in the archives of the US National Institutes of Health.

The unsuccessful self-treatment of "Writers Block", Dennis Upper

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1311997/pdf/jaba00061-0143a.pdf

Reproduced here in its entirety:

 

[OuttaInc]

I tend to rely on thinking about the theme and genera, then on an event and/or emotion. This has worked very well for me as far as the 100 worders go. Maybe too well as I can write 3-4 stories in just a few hours as long as I alternate between two genera's, to allow my subconscious to do its thing.

Going for quantity is one of the main principles of divergent thinking, so you're doing something right. And you're in good company if you start with an emotion. According to Edgar Allan Poe's The Philosophy of Composition, that's how he wrote The Raven. He wanted to evoke the effect of contemplating Beauty, but with a melancholy tone.

When I am stuck I often do stream of consciousness. Simply throwing down on the page a rant about everything even tangentially related to where I am going. I put in "absurdities" and "insults" and turn the page into a psychological exam. I then get another cup of coffee, come back and review what I've written. Sometimes all I get out of it is a psychological exam.

Writing. Cheaper than therapy.

 

[OuttaInc]

I'd like to offer a link to paper published in the archives of the US National Institutes of Health.

The unsuccessful self-treatment of "Writers Block", Dennis Upper

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1311997/pdf/jaba00061-0143a.pdf

Reproduced here in its entirety:
View attachment 105792

Proof that it is possible to get your null results published. Even Reviewer #2 found little to complain about, but they did lament that their own research on overcoming writer's block was not cited.

 

[THX1138]

Just downloaded a PDF of Edgar Allan Poe's The Philosophy of Composition. Very insightful.

 

[OuttaInc]

So far, this thread turned up some great ideas. Here’s a distilled description of all the contributions so far. (Apologies if I’ve missed the mark.)

Random Input (outtainc)
Alphabet soup (Harpo)
Incubation/Simmering (sknox)
10-min List (therapist)
Backstories (Wayne Mack)
Cross-pollination (THX1138)
Stream of consciousness (Cthulhu.Science)

Here’s a new one I’ve been playing with lately: Reversal Technique.

Reversal helps you break out of a rut or a dead-end in your writing by encouraging you to

1. list your fundamental assumptions about the situation,
2. reverse them,
3. see what ideas are spawned.

I used this technique to figure out the weakness of a villain I’m writing who can sense other people’s secrets. How could my hero prevail against somebody who can see what he’s plotting? One of my assumptions was that the villain's Sight was a gift. But when I reversed it into “It’s a curse,” that spawned a whole brainstorm about the downsides of such a talent that I had never considered. I realized my villain was probably hyper-aware of her own dark secrets, and spent a lot of time trying to hide/forget them. This resulted in a very specific blind spot for her that my hero could now exploit. Problem solved.

Would I have eventually come up with that on my own? Maybe. But who knows how long it would’ve taken. I think the benefit of these creative thinking techniques is that, rather than waiting for epiphanies to occur to you in the shower, you can coax them out on demand.

 

[Toby Frost]

I don't really work like this, but my usual technique for getting out of trouble is to think something along the lines of "What do I want to achieve, and what would be the best way of getting there?". "Best" often involves "shortest/simplest" but also "most fitting/stylish".

In terms of ideas, I tend to mull over an idea for some time before writing it. I don't make many notes, but it's a bit like sifting flour: hopefully, the stuff that's either not much good or not likely to hold my attention falls away, and what remains is what I'm most likely to do well. It also means that I'm likely to go in with a good idea of what I'll be doing, so I won't have to change my plans too much.

 

[Venusian Broon]

I go into the Brainstorming room of my Mind Palace. It's upstairs from my Temple with nice views of the North garden.

If perusing the almost infinite number of books, objects an artefacts doesn't work, I can leave objects related to the idea in a specific chest, then go away. When I return the room the room usually transmutes them into 'ideas'.

 

[Steve Harrison]

I only start writing when I have several major plot points and an ending in mind, using them as kind of stepping stones to keep me on track.

When I realise I've stuffed up between these points (which is quite often), I imagine I'm driving and instead of a direct route to the next key scene, I take a scenic or more convoluted route, or even a short cut, to the next point. Not sure how it works, but I usually end up with a variety of options.

Next problem is picking the right one...