Formalize Your Brain's Storm

If you're looking for ideas and decide to brainstorm, do it right.

There's a wrong way to brainstorm?  Well, no, probably not.  But too often we give brainstorming short shrift. 

We do a mental brainstorm and call it done.  Maybe it yields fertile ground for that article, or your next chapter.  Maybe not.

To get the full benefit of your brainstorm, write it down.  It's not a bad idea to write it on the screen on that blank document that's been staring you down. 

Go ahead.  Start writing.  Hit "enter" after every idea.  Let Word remind you these aren't complete sentences.  Just do it.

In a true brainstorm, no idea is rejected.  Write every one of them, the stupid ones, the unrelated ones, the ones you'll never use. 

Recently, while trying to get started on an article about the new Google goggles, I tried to imagine what they might display right in front of your eyes while you walked around.  Here's the list I brainstormed:

weather reports
traffice reports
text ban (huh? what's that have to do with data display?)
google ban (ditto)
political updates
movie trailers
Avengers
text zombie
Google zombie (I made that up!)
yellow pages
Yelp
Craig's list
Angie's list
Wikipedia
security cams

I loved the idea of the texting zombie I'd seen in a public service announcement about the danger of texting and driving.  "Google zombie" just sounded funny.  I wanted to go there.

I used only a couple of the items from the brainstorm, but I'm certain the act of writing them all helped get my fingers flying.  I was on my way with 700 words for my weekly column in the local newspaper.  Check it out at www.thinkdreamplay.blogspot.com

How does brainstorming work for you?  Let me know ~ and Write, Dream Writers!