HOW TO BRAINSTORM IDEAS FOR YOUR NEXT BEST-SELLER

Brainstorming is THE SKILL that will help you establish yourself as a writer. Writing is not only about having a command on words. Words are just the vehicle that we use to communicate our ideas and stories.

If you wish to be a recognized and consistent writer, you should start stimulating your creative parts of brain and hone your brainstorming skills.

Imagine you are standing in front of a cave. The cave may be full of ideas mud, rocks, diamonds, jewels or toxic animals. Waiting for inspiration is like standing cowardly in front of a cave until something shows up from inside itself. It can be jewels and diamonds if you get lucky, but chances are that you won't be, and you'd have to do with the rocks and mud. If you want to be a writer, you need to build up courage, have a head torch and march inside the cave and start digging your desired jewels.

Waiting for inspiration is like wanting a building to be constructed magically and appear out of nowhere. We both know that's not how it works, and I wanna tell you that the art of writing does not work that way either. You need to put in the work. You need to start from scratch. You need to be ready to scribble before you can start shading.

Tip #1 - Hone the skill of problem-solving

A solution to a problem does not and will not appear magically unless you put your brain into it. Start practicing the art of problem-solving whenever you can. This skill will be one of the most useful skill that you will develop in your life, and not just writing. Knowing the art of brainstorming is the root to your tree of writing. There ain't no way, your writing can survive without that. Practically, it cannot even start without that. You cannot rely on those golden epiphanies alone that come out of nowhere and shine above your head like light bulbs.

The more time you spend, actively trying to solve a problem consciously - brainstorming - the more chance there is that you will get bursts of inspirations out of nowhere.

Tip #2 - All ideas are stolen. Even ones that seem original.

Coming up with a story idea that's all your own really just consists of gathering bits and pieces of other stories and remixing them into your own arrangement. Don't think of it as stealing. Think of it as drawing inspiration from other sources. Use stories that matter to you to write your story that matters too.

STEP 1 : Make a list of top 5 favorite stories that you have come across.

STEP 2 : Try to discover the favorite aspect of each story (plot, genre, theme, characters etc.)

STEP 3 : Take out small bits and pieces from each of your favorite works and combine them into a magic of your own.

"IN THE END, MERELY IMITATING YOUR HEROES IS NOT FLATTERING THEM. TRANSFORMING THEIR WORK INTO SOMETHING OF YOUR OWN IS HOW YOU FLATTER THEM. ADDING SOMETHING TO THE WORLD ONLY YOU CAN ADD." - Austin Kleon

"If you steal from one author, it's plagiarism; if you steal from many, it's research." - Wilson Mizner

Tip #3 - Make use of Mind-Maps or Venn Diagrams

These graphic organizers will help you put your random ideas into the right places and will ultimately help you reach to a story. It's very much possible that your brain can come up with your best plot idea while you are brainstorming about a particular character. In situation such as this, a graphic organizer is going to save your magic from getting lost.

Tip #4 - WRITE IT ALL DOWN - GOOD, BAD, ANYTHING !

You can always go back and use one idea or get rid of it altogether. In the time when you are thinking about the topic, write down anything and everything that comes to your mind. Circle ideas that you like, possibly elaborate them a little bit.

So, What are you waiting for ? Go ahead, grab a piece of paper and a pen and get your imaginative brain into brainstorming a magical story. I am so excited to know what you came up with !!

Don't forget to drop your work in the community blog, or even better, convert it into a novel. You know, I am here to take care of all that for you.

Comment below if you have some extra tips and if these helped you !