Brainstorming: The Cure for Writer's Block

Spit-balling, note-taking, thinking outside the box. Most of us have been brainstorming since elementary school, when we'd squish our desks together and toss out different ideas we hoped wouldn’t get us laughed at. I, for one, didn’t see the point.

When I first began work on my epic fantasy novel, I refused to brainstorm. I thought it was a big waste of time. I was afraid I'd get caught in a note-taking trap and never write. So I diligently sat at my computer desk in 110 degree heat, typing and typing, refusing to stop no matter how often I got stuck or how little I had to say.

It got me nowhere.

I don't want that to happen to you. I want you to use every tool in your writer's kit to get your story working. And that's what brainstorming is: a wonderful tool. Whenever you get stuck, whenever you have a bad feeling in your gut that something's wrong, whenever you want to write but have nothing to say--brainstorming is there for you.
 
That's why I've come up with strategies based on my own trial and error to get your mental juices flowing and help you on your writing way.

---

Quiz! Quiz! Quiz!
 
Where exactly are you in the writing process? Take this handy-dandy little quiz to figure out what brainstorming frame of mind you're in.

1. How do you feel about your writing?

a. I hate, hate, hate it! I can't stand looking at it.
b. I like it in general, but this one aspect has been frustrating me.
c. I love it. It will be the most beautiful, fascinating, wonderful story... once I start writing it.

2. What is your biggest problem with your story?

a. The whole thing. It's stupid. Also, I suck as a writer.
b. ______________________________ (Fill in the blank.)
c. There's not enough of it yet.

3. Brainstorming is good for:

a. avoiding looking at my *@#& manuscript!
b. solving a problem.
c. figuring out what to write.

---

If you picked mostly As

"I Can't Identify My Problem"

Right now, your gut is telling you something is wrong with your writing. Unfortunately, you can't figure out where the problem lies so all your anger is spilling out as general frustration. The good news is that you have lots of passion. You just need to channel it into something more productive.

Brainstorming Strategies

Rant

Get out a notebook and a freshly sharpened pencil or pen. Now write down everything you absolutely hate about your manuscript. Rip it apart like a film critic slashing away at a B movie. Don't stop writing if you start losing steam. Be thorough. If you can't fill a minimum of three pages, you aren't really trying.

All done?

Good. Now, hopefully, in the process you should have either:

a. started to identify the underlying problems of your manuscript
b. discovered the story isn't half as bad as you thought
c. realized some of the psychological issues holding you back
d. burned off negative emotion and come to a calmer state

If none of the above has happened, keep on ranting until it does.

Play the "Why?" Game

The "Why?" Game is what children play to drive their parents crazy. But did you know you can talk yourself back into sanity by constantly asking questions. Hey, it worked for Socrates. It can work for you. Let the crazy, frustrated part of your psyche hold a dialogue with the calm, rational, question-asking fragment of your brain.

Here's how such a conversation might look.

Crazy Writer: (gnashing teeth and pulling hair) "I hate myself! I'm a horrible, horrible writer!"

Sane Writer: "Why?"

Crazy Writer: "Because my story sucks."

Sane Writer: "Why?"

Crazy Writer: "Well, for starters, my main character is boring and stupid and I hate her."

Sane Writer: "Why?"

Crazy Writer: (Slowly starting to regain sanity) "Because she's become very one-dimensional. She started off as very active, but now it seems like she's just letting everything happen to her. And when she does make decisions they're stupid."

Sane Writer: (Nodding wisely) "So if you know these decisions are stupid why do you let her make them?"

Not-so-Crazy Writer: "Well, I feel like the plot has to go in a certain direction. If she doesn't make these decisions, the plot won't work."

Wise Writer: "Then what can we do to either justify her decision or otherwise slightly alter the situations without changing the whole plot?"

And suddenly you're getting somewhere.

Read Your Writing 

It sounds obvious, I know, but if you are in the throes of frustration, this may be the last thing you want to do. You avoid looking at your previous work, because you can't bear its awfulness. The thing is, half the time the so-called "awfulness" is hype and pre-mature judgement. So face your fears. Print out a copy of a chapter (so you aren't tempted to change it). Choose a time and space where you feel relaxed. And get to reading.

I tend to read each of my chapters twice. The first time, I do a quick skim, just to remind myself what's happening. The second time I go through, page by page, and write down all the things I like and all the things I dislike. I try to do this as objectively as possible, like a reader in a critique group. This means, and I cannot emphasize this enough, WRITE DOWN THE GOOD STUFF!

While it's nice to know what you need to improve upon, it's also important to identify the strongest points of your writing, the cornerstones upon which can erect new structures. As a bonus, this will help to salvage some of your self-esteem and save your passion for writing.

Seek Advice

If ever you get to the point where you can no longer see the good in your work or critique your writing in a (mostly) objective way, your best bet may be to get someone else to give you their honest opinion. Seek an editor, a mentor, a critique group, or maybe even a #1 fan who'll throw their love at your story unconditionally.

Information is also key, when the problem is building up a particular skill. For example, in high school, I knew that my prose work and description were not up to par, but I had no idea how to bring my writing up another level. Taking classes and reading books helped me develop these skills. Knowledge in general can give you confidence to trust your instincts. Eventually, you'll be able to figure out what works for you and what doesn't.

---

If you picked mostly Bs

"I Can Identify My Problem"

Congratulations! You know what the problem is--now all you need is help solving it. You have a great deal of knowledge about your craft, and logic and analysis are in your corner. If you can free up your creativity, you may find the solution to your problem in no time.

Brainstorming Strategies

This is a very simple, but proven method. Take a piece of paper and a pencil (or a computer, if you prefer) and write down whatever pops into your head. Throw ideas around until you find one that makes you go, "Ah-ha!" or at least "Hm, maybe..." If nothing works, set your writing aside for a little while and look at it again with fresh eyes.

"Big deal," you say. "My first grade teacher taught me this method."

Fair enough. So let me offer my own insight. The difficulty here is not tossing out ideas, so much as it is shutting off the critical part of the brain. And how do you do that?

First of all, reassure yourself that, unlike those painful group brainstorming sessions in grade school, where your teacher assured you there are no stupid ideas while your laughing friends immediately contradicted her, here no one will ever read your writing. What happens in brainstorming, stays in brainstorming. There's no ridicule attached.

Second of all, as soon as the first stupid, obvious, unworkable, this-doesn't-even-count-as-an-idea idea pops into your head, WRITE IT DOWN. It generally opens the floodgates to more ideas. Maybe the new ideas are just as bad. Doesn't matter. Grit your teeth and commit them to paper. Bad ideas are better than nothing. You can work on bad ideas. You can't work with nothing.
 
Listen to Your Judgement

Now maybe during those painfully embarrassing school brainstorming sessions, your elementary teacher proclaimed, "This is a judgement free zone." But sometimes you can’t always turn off your judgement. So instead of trying to suppress it, use it as a brainstorming tool.

First, try to be fair and logical. Saying "This is stupid" helps no one. Saying "This is stupid, because...." can actually trigger more ideas. If you know the knight slaying the dragon is obvious and cliché, reply, "All right, so what is original?" The princess slaying the dragon? The dragon having a heart attack? The dragon faking its death?

If you can't turn your judgement into a positive force, write down your judgement and move on. Give it no more space than the actual idea. Holding in your judgement gives it more power--writing it down deflates it a bit. As long as you don't wallow in your judgement, you’ll be fine.

Attack from the Sides

If your problem is plot, stop and take a look at the setting.

Elements of a story are linked together. Your character's decisions influence the plot; the events of the plot affect the character's mindset; the character’s mindset influences how he sees the setting. Each element is a door into your story. You don't always have to go in through the front gate. Sometimes the back door is preferable.

One of my favorite tricks is to take a deep look into the motivations, backgrounds, and secrets of minor characters. That worn-out innkeeper your hero talked to on page 11 might have been a rebel fighter in his youth. Maybe he still keeps a list of all his compatriots and stockpiles weapons in the basement.

Look around. You never know what you'll find.
 
Break Taboos

Do you ever find yourself thinking like this?

Poor Stable Boy has great chemistry with Witty Bar Maid, but he's supposed to end up with Beautiful Princess.

My heroes must take the Black Fortress by Midsummer's Eve, but I can't seem to get them there on time.

The Fizzy Fairy won't appear until Chapter 32, but she has the Amulet of Truth my White Knight needs to defeat the Black Wizard on Chapter 27.

Supposed to. Must. Won't. Pay attention to these words in your thoughts. They indicate the taboos you have secretly erected in your mind.

Long ago, you came up with an idea you thought would fit. Three drafts later, that wispy thought has calcified into a stone pillar. You think removing it would cause the whole story to tumble down on your head.

Try it and see.

Breaking taboos can radically shift the way you think about your story. Destroy something that has become sacred and see where it takes you. How does it affect other pieces of the story? What could you replace it with? What are the consequences of removing it?

Map out the trail of destruction.

I'm not saying you should actually throw out every portion of your writing that gives you problems. You're not changing your manuscript; you're merely speculating. Sometimes you find that the pillar you thought was a vital support structure is merely decorative. You can take it out and the story will stand.

Other times you realize you really, really want this element to stay--losing it would drain some of the life out of your story. By all means, keep it. One of the points of this exercise is to clarify what's absolutely essential and what's not.

But the interesting thing is, by threatening your taboos, your mind is forced to move in a completely different direction, which may in turn provide you with all sorts of new ideas. Take the new ideas, stitch them with the old, and watch the patchwork transform into something original and beautiful.
 
Ignore It

Not every problem needs solving.

If it's a little thing, no one may even notice. Sometimes that critical part of your brain zeroes in and nitpicks on minor flaws. These obsessions suck up valuable time. Be efficient. Move on.

Sometimes when you go forward, the solution just magically appears. When you move from looking at a single detail to the whole landscape, your perspective shifts. You understand where the piece fits into the larger picture and a solution arrives in a flash of insight.

---

If you picked mostly Cs

"I Have Nothing to Work With"

You're just starting the writing process and that's okay! You're powered by enthusiasm and would dearly like to write... if only you knew where to go. At this stage, you need to gather as many ideas as you can and find ways to integrate them into your story. Hang onto that excitement--you're going to need it in the days to come. Your brainstorming may be ongoing, but keep at it and you'll have plenty of substance for that story.

Brainstorming Strategies

Define Your Aspirations

What kind of story do you want to write?

A good story, you reply.

Well, what's in a good story? There are, of course, the broad strokes: fascinating characters, a compelling plot, tight prose. But this is about the specifics. What elements do you like? Romance? Family drama? Dragons? What gets you excited? What makes you want to keep reading?

On the reverse end, what do you absolutely hate in a story? Predictable prophecies? Magic that's overly powerful? Damsels in distress? Do the exact opposite. For example, I really hate stupid heroes who impulsively charge into danger and triumph because the story gods say they must. My heroes are usually smart and thoughtful, and they make lots of mistakes.

When you define your aspirations, you define what you want your story to be. This creates a rough map to guide where your writing will or will not go.
 
Browse

It goes without saying that if your story's main idea for includes a very tangible point, i.e., a scientific idea, a specific setting, etc., you really ought to research it. But while you're out hitting the libraries for books on genetic engineering or Prohibition era New York, keep your eye out for any other books catch your eye. These books might appear to have nothing to do with your story, but for some reason, they call to you.

Listen to their siren voices.

Pick them up. Scan them. Read them.

When your mind is in brainstorming mode, your subconscious will act as a compost heap. It's not picky; it will accept almost anything organic. If you think what you're reading has nothing to do with your story and cannot be integrated in any way, you've seriously underestimated the power of your brain to make connections.

I used research on 19th century pre-Meiji Japan to develop a character for my novel. I used a psychology books on family secrets for an Inception-like short story. Information on Byzantine Greece found its way into a children's fairy tale novel.

Everything is up for grab. And the more counterintuitive the source, the more original the idea will seem.
 
Travel

Traveling to Japan midway through my junior semester in college inspired me like nothing else and transformed the way I wrote. Living in a foreign country shattered my assumptions on what was normal. I had to communicate on a primal level and observe the world with new sensitivity.

Now, obviously, if you have enough money to travel to a foreign country or find yourself with an opportunity to go abroad, lucky you. If not, perhaps you can go on a local trip or find some way to make the same old place a new experience. Step out of your comfort zone. Trigger that fear and excitement. Observe with all your senses. Learn not from a book but from an experience.

A few caveats. First of all, be sure to immerse yourself in the process as much as possible. Don't go to Yosemite and spend the whole time on a tour bus. Get out and hike.

Second, be mindful and sensitive to everything you experience--especially the negatives. I distinctly recall the feeling of getting lost in a foreign country, over and over again. It became a plot point in my novel.

The trip might not yield immediate results. Your brain needs time to stew. It may take a month. It may take a year. That's what journals are for. Once your brain figures out how to use your experience in your story, you can refer back to your previous notes to fill in some of those fuzzy details.
 
Make a Commitment

In brainstorming, as with life, the greater the committed, the more you get out of it. If you consistently pledge a certain amount of time and space to brainstorming, ideas will come steadily, because your mind will be always thinking of where to go and what to do.

This is not to say you should do nothing but brainstorm until you have every detail plotted out. At some point, you'll have to start writing, ready or not. Insert a deadline.

The month before National Novel Writing Month, I spend all of October brainstorming. I write about 500 words a day (1-2 pages), five days a week. After a month, I have enough ideas to get me through NaNoWriMo without losing steam.

Attaching goals to your brainstorming session can also be helpful. For example, come up with 10 exciting, discover the antagonists' motivation, or figure out how magic works or come up with a backstory. Break elements apart, and tackle them piece by piece.