Make Your Brainstorming Sessions Rain Ideas

Brainstorming is an essential part of the writing process. Without ideas after all, what would you have to write? Whether you are just starting a new novel, or need new plot ideas for a current work, brainstorming is a fantastic way to generate new content. There are a few things that you should take into consideration though as you begin your brainstorming session.
First, make sure you are in the proper mindset. If your mind is not in a place where you can focus on idea generation, your brainstorming may yield little results, or even become a complete waste of time. Allow your mind to start thinking about writing, even if it’s not necessarily related to your current work. You have to get on the right path before you’ll find the right ideas. If your mind is busy with other thoughts, such as what you need to cook for dinner tonight, or that term paper that will be due tomorrow, your brainstorming will suffer. Make sure you’re in the creative mindset to formulate quality ideas related to your writing.
Once you’re ready to begin, allow your mind to wander. Ideas may pop in and out of your head. Some may be great, and others may be downright ridiculous. No matter what though, each and every idea you have could be the first link in a chain that leads to the next big idea. Thoughts move in sequence, and a bad idea may just be that handhold you need to climb up to better ideas. Not only should you let your mind wander, but you should also feel free to move to the fringes of your imagination. Sometimes we find ourselves staying with “safe” ideas. There’s nothing wrong with that, but by exploring the boundaries of your imagination, you may find an idea you’d never have found before.
The final piece of advice is to keep a notebook or computer handy for your brainstorming session. Jot down the ideas you have, even if you think you may never use them. That idea could someday evolve into something you’ll be glad didn’t just pop in and out of your mind. At worst, they go unused. Even if that is the case, they’ll always be there for you to refer back to in the future. What is useless now could be immensely helpful years from now.
Take the opportunity before you begin brainstorming to give yourself an edge. Make the most out of each session, and you may soon find you have more ideas than you know what to do with. Having a list of ideas you can refer to will make future content creation easier, and will help give you more time to write instead of spending tons of time on formulating new ideas.