how to brainstorm ideas for writing 

~TIMESTAMPS~ 5:49 - difference between a braindump and brainstorming 7:17 - why do we brainstorm? 9:25 - magic questions 11:32 - The 5 Ideas Method (Rachael’s favorite method) 13:26 - Mind Mapping/Clustering/Spider Diagrams Method 14:00 - The Holmes Method 14:41 - Talk it out! Method

I'm so glad you distinguished between brainstorming and brain dump. They're different cognitive processes that we use in all aspects of life, and i dont think I've seen many other writers talk about this, even though it's such a huge part of the process! I think much of this becomes so subconscious over time once we get used to using it. 😊So much of writing that felt scary at first is now second nature.

Magic questions are magical. Do you have a list of some you go through when starting a novel? Your example was awesome but can you give us more of them please?

Great video. Just what I needed. Here's a metaphor I like to use... Those first few obvious/boring ideas your brain spits out are the first couple of biscuits (cookies for US readers) in the pack. They're often broken or, if the pack has been opened, stale. You have to keep digging down to get the good biscuits.

This was very helpful thank you. I've been writing in my head for over a decade. Started a few novels, but never finished and done a few short stories. I love the creative process and am an artist as well. I find lately that my mind is freezing up. I get a story idea, but I can't seem to develop it while I'm awake. (I usually wait til bed-time, and in that time before sleep where my mind relaxes the story comes very easily). These ideas will help force my mind to work while I'm awake :P So right about bouncing off of other people. If I tell my hubby an idea, by the end of 20 minutes, we'll have had an accidental brainstorming session with many new ideas. Love it!

I've never heard of magic questions, but it makes so much sense! Thank you so much for the tips, I can't wait to try this out.

Thank you SO MUCH! So many brainstorming videos just say: write all your ideas down! and call that helpful tips. I've been wondering how to COME UP WITH IDEAS, and you showed me how! I thought brainstorming might be a skill to develop, because it's one of my writing weaknesses, and you confirmed that. THANK YOU. I finally something useful on brainstorming!

@3:22 "ok that's great, how the F do I get the thing" -- I LOVE it here!!!! OMG!!

Speaking to others about parts of story, plot, conflict a.o. with the responses giving you new ideas enriching or even changing existing parts, which you call Holmes Method - reminds me of people writing songs in a band when they not write them alone (ryan at Vids&Articles)

00:17 "Hello, cinnamon bun," back at ya! 😉💖

You’re smart. I like you, and I’m glad to have found your channel. Thanks for the tips!!

also love problem solving and im good at it :) so great :)

"Strap on a fucking head torch and go digging." Best advice ever lol

Great ideas! BTW - I talk to myself all the time. Why? Two reasons . . . (1) I like talking to intelligent people, and (2) I like hearing intelligent people talk. (Yes, I stole that from the late Zig Ziglar).

I'm working through the 100 Day Writing Challenge by Tim Clare and he touches on the same points! So helpful to make lists to get into the divergent mindset thinking

I must say that this is one of the most important videos I've ever seen. Part of what you say I have already learnt from life, but not everything, not enough to unlock all of the creative power I feel that I have. I'm always navigating in the chaos of my ideas, manyof them come up from my subconcious, but it's always chaotic and I get overwhelmed and frustrated because I more frequently than not get lost and can't produce anything useful. Sometimes I can, but most of the times I can't. Now it's different. After I found this video and started to use this technique I started to produce a lot of things I didn't know I could. Thank you very much for that.

Awesome video and super helpful! I think the 5 idea technique sounds to best to me as well :). I feel like I should show this video to all my classmates :') (I study communication & multimedia design and basically the gist of what we do is solve problems) we could spend days "brainstorming" and get literally nowhere because we don't really use a technique just 'brain dumping'.

Good tips! I've usually done free writing or discussing with someone else, but I'm curious to try the first one, because I've heard before that it's good, but I've never tried it for real! :)

Haha I like how you said that. “Hopefully that sold you on it.” 5:38 ... and yes. Yes you did. 😊🙏🏼

This is great. I really loved that you made the connection between critical essays and novelling in your theme vid, and then this just blew my mind with using something I have used for essays, and connecting it with novelling. Asking Specific questions and listing answers/avenues of investigation is something I have always done for crafting essays but I had never thought to do that for problems in my stories. So thank you for making those connections and sharing them 😊

Thank you so much for making all these videos! Currently going through all the preptober stuff (and I just started your seven-day course on how to plot and I'm super excited!)

I've heard of the Holmes method as rubber ducking too! Talking to someone about a problem or a rubber duck if no one is around

This is a great video thanks for this ! I agree I don’t think people talk about this part of the process enough !

Thanks for this video Rachael-the “subterranean caves” metaphor is great. And in the process of using this for my own writing, I thought of two alternative terms that relate to your metaphor: brain “mining” (instead of storming) and brain “panning” (as in gold panning, where you sift for bits of gold already on the surface). (I live in a town founded because of a gold rush, hence the terms.) Thanks again!

Excellent Really helpful 👍🏼👍🏼

Holmes method is something I just started recently and it has been so helpful. Just to declutter my mind, vent anxiety, see logic holes and get an new perspective on everything. You can even do it with relative strangers.

Great video! I do the same but simply call them custom prompts. I start every project with a huge blank paper & that beginning prompt or statement. Then I branch out into the various themes related to the original idea. 💞💞

Excellent!

i love brainstorming but i'll still be revisiting this video for the helpful tips! :)

This is incredible!

I'm just found you and your videos. May you believe this? The magical at this is that your talk about ideas to write on, about digging after them and working with magic questions to do this, is right what I needed now. I feel this video so deep inside of my heart and brain, like a fresh morning with the first sun glimmering at the horizon! My dream since I can imagine ever was to write. And with the first months of this year I at least was capable to arrange all the life circumstances in a new way, to make this easier for me. But after an enthusiastic start (with a weekend writer workshop and all) now I'm sitting here since months and feel like bleeding out of the will to write. Because of a lack of ideas. And this makes me so sad. I will watch this video twice and make your advice a treasure. Thank you!

First - thanks for the awesome video. I only recently found your channel, but I am following up on the videos since they give thoughtful and deeper insights and perspectives on "the writing problem" (pun intended). Which brings me to one approach to brainstorming which I've found useful, too, and which might be of interest: Change your perspective. There are several easy and not so easy ways to do that. You can employ methods like "six thinking hats" or your personal version of that, employ perhaps consciously a perspective which is used by one of the characters in the book, if they are already mature enough. (This might even result in a "negative" idea - if the character in perspective expects something, you might just use the opposite to create a twist.) Or you can just stimulate your brain by changing circumstances. Easiest are: After a period of time, consciously change the color of your pen / ink when drawing up your brainstorm outputs / ideas. Change your body's position - movement stimulates the brain, a new sitting position does as well, and a new vista out of another window or looking at a different picture on the wall does so, too. Change the room if you have a number of working spaces scattered across your place for a different atmospheric / environmental trigger. But don't just loiter. :-) Make it a conscious change. My two cents. Thanks once more for your channel.

The metaphors are quite helpful. Thank you!

Amazing Brain storming ideas, I have big problems unpicking large complex issues. I'm currently struggling with the notion that I think I've over complicated my book. I like the fact it's not cookie cutter YA fantasy... It's an adult / new adult fantasy. But I am worried it's too complex.

Lol 14:55 I forget that you tubers are talking by themselves in their rooms. You act so natural, so I figure you’re talking to me 😆 so that means you’re good at what you do

thanks I believe I will try this method...I had not thought of it before they way you described it lol ill put my wine away.

Maybe I missed it, but if not, can you do a video on refilling the creative well? This is currently where I am. I have so many ideas, but none are finished, and I want to start a new project but feel like I'm regurgitating other synopsies when I get an "idea."

I've been stalling for SO LONG until recently when I decided to try and start writing by hand instead of typing down. Writing a draft by hand turned out no easier than typing it BUT I've discovered that brainstorming by hand actually helps, like, A LOT. When I try to solve problems in my story just in my head, my mind always wanders off, I do have problems with keeping attention, I guess... Writing my questions down, however, and trying to answer them also by writing helps me remain focused and thus helps with the story SO MUCH it really feels like magic. Thank you for giving us so many different brainstorming methods! I'd definitely try the 5 ideas method - it sounds like exactly the thing I need!

I'm so glad I found this topic and you did a swell presentation, thank you

I've recently been hooked on a story line, and been tearing down walls in my head trying to figure out the story to it's full potential. I actually used a couple of your methods on my own, as they've been natural ones throughout all of my story ideas over the years. Thinking in my head about story lines is hazardous for me, because my brain jumps all over the place and I never stay focused on what I want. I have actually found that talking out loud to myself, forces my brain to stay on track and it helps immensely. I also talk out loud to my partner all the time, after I have talked to myself just to make sure that my ideas all make sense and flow in the correct direction. I loved your five method process, and the idea behind it, and outside of the story line I am working on now, have typically stuck to the first things that pop in my head, then get frustrated and quit when things get complicated and I don't have solutions. It's crazy how different my current project is though, I have had soooo many eureka's and haven't allowed myself to stop thinking about my characters and their goals/ambitions. I sometimes think back to my original idea (I've been stuck on this for about 2 months now trying to figure it out) and laugh, cuz I am so happy that I pushed my boundaries and went for other solutions, or even back tracked to the beginning to see what I could change to make my outcomes push into new territories that I liked better. Now, in the beginning when you were talking about brain dumping made me a bit worried. With the first part of my story completed in my brain, I took all of what I figured out and dumped the contents onto the page. I basically jotted everything down in order to remind myself of things for when I actually begin to write the story. Is this what you were talking about at the beginning of your video? Because I have been brainstorming, and then writing down in quick synopsis the ideas in my head.. then I will go further to make chapter outlines, then write the story line itself. Does this method seem correct/constructive? I guess what I am asking is... can brainstorming turn into brain dumping? Or is what I am doing not at all brain dumping and I totally misunderstood your definition?

we understand Braindump is getting everything out that is in the brain. Brainstorming is getting everything > into < the brain that yet is only in the subconsciousness. (ryan at Vids&Articles )

This sometimes works for me: I write down my idea, which typically feels a little vague, and pick out the words that feel key but maybe not perfectly on target. Then I go to the Thesaurus and look them up. Using a traditional Roget's Thesaurus will usually work better than a dictionary thesaurus, and differently--not necessarily better or worse--than using a Thesaurus app on your computer. Sometimes you clarify your original idea and sometimes you generate an entirely new idea. I find this works when I'm trying to refine my themes or explain motivations. I guess this works for me because my first inspirations tend to be fuzzy. Try this out with a big meaty concept like "revenge" and you will find different intensities and varieties of meaning. Which one draws you? Another thing I try though not so often, is entering key words into Google Image Search. Sometimes it helps to limit the search to black and white or a certain size or to line drawing because you will get a firehose blast of mostly useless stuff. But sometimes you find something that feels oddly appropriate though entirely unexpected.

How to reach the magic question?

How do you pose a magic question for a book idea? How do I select a book idea? A plot line? I’m trying to write children’s books

Did I not watch this vid yet? Eek! Oops. Well, here I am and loving it. I need to watch more of your backlog vids soon. Now I'm thinking I need to draw trees whenever I brainstorm, lol. But, maybe could possibly help me, cuz I sometimes go overboard on brainstorming. One particular story idea I have has 4 possible alternate story lines (some with the same scenes, others vastly different) but mostly similar plots. So, I can't write them all when I get to the drafting phase. But, I'm having a hard time deciding which one I want to go with. Maybe seeing them attached to large tree branches will help me choose which one to go with. lol. Idk. That story's been irking me for ~2.5 years now and I think it'll be one of those I'll struggle with for years to come. :S It's bottom of the list with which stories to focus on first, so I'm not freaking out about it, yet. :3 On a related note, I've tried mind-mapping some of my stories on the computer and it seems to create such a huge mess. So, maybe drawing trees will look cleaner. And pretty, lol. I also do prefer to outline on paper vs computer. :)

I'm started my first novel this week and with your video I just realized that I first did brain dump, but then continue with a difused brain storm... I was inducing my brain for ideas but the magic question wasn't so clear... I will keep it in mind. Thank you!

4:49 "How many metaphors do I HAVE in this video?!" lol

Completely agree! It’s totally different and a completely different method a “brainstorm” and a “brain drop”- while both of them could be equally as useful, they’re meant for different purposes

thanks Rachael. Lots of good ideas here.

Getting a little drunk also helps. :)

great. I'm your new sub. good news, I'm a writer too.

What usually works the best for me is mix between the 5 ideas method, clustering, bouncing and the stream of consciousness all at once. That's a lot but hold on, I'll try to explain a bit further how it works for me. As I am mostly creating music things, this might apply differently, but I've realized that the best solutions come to me with bouncing problems around with someone, but when it comes to creating things, I don't always get to have a partner wiling to listen to me bounce off ideas forever. So instead, when I'm trying to get lyrics written, for instance, I open myself an Evernote workfile and start writing a stream of consciousness directed toward my problem, but I write it sort of in the same format as if I was messaging somebody else about it. From there, I'll usually go in two directions: 1- I'll start writing down some words, phrases or concepts that inspired me in lists - a little similar to the cluster method 2- I'll start from a general form and try to iterate my way down to details (i.e I decide what I'll be singing about in different parts of the songs verses/chorus/bridge) And basically, I'll keep iterating over and over, creating various versions of each section until I get to a point I feel satisfied with. But the key most important thing for me is I don't shy away from keeping EVERY single step of the process in that document. I am not allowed to erase anything from it, and I'll throw all the thoughts that come to my mind there. I'm only allowed to strike the stuff I don't think I'll be using for the final version. So I iterate my way down to a full song like that until I'm satisfied with the result, and it works every single time for me.

As a small authortuber I’ve been looking for some other authortubers to subscribe to. Love this video! I’m subscribed!

Thx this helped me so much.

Wonderful video! You're really touching on something important with the concept of magic questions. :) I have a challenge for you... How do you know that a suitable answer to a magic question exists? OR: How would it be possible to prove the answer doesn't exist? I ask this due to my personal experience... I completed an outline about a year and a half ago. However, the outline was very vague, and I understood that the plot I had on paper would only work as a trilogy, meaning that I would have to spread the plot points across three films. (I write screenplays instead of novels.) Since the time I completed this outline, I have struggled to find individual stories for each film, on which "the greater plot" of the series can advance. It was only until very recently I completed an outline for the first screenplay, with more or less every scene described. I have also come some way with the second film, and hope to flesh out this outline till I am confident it can work as a blueprint for an engaging story. And of course, I need to complete the outline for the third screenplay too before I'm confident that the greater plot I planned initially can actually be delivered in a way that keeps the audience emotionally engaged. So, to formulate some new questions relating to my own situation: How do I know there exist magic questions for the individual screenplays that I intend (hope) to write? How do I know that the greater story I desire to tell can actually be told in a way that makes sense and is engaging to the audience? Did I perhaps stumple upon a story idea that just isn't possible to tell with respect to the principles of good storytelling (3-act structure, and so on)? Thanks for making high quality videos! :) Stian

So I figured I'd start a "brain dump" (so sorry) for questions to ask yourself when you are just starting a novel, just because I am right now: What are themes I want to explore? Love, friendship, political views, religion, nature, womens rights, personal development, social structures... What is the general network of characters and their interactions? who does what with whom? (Think of your own surroundings and the relationships that influence you the most) Who has which development and personal problems? What is the problem of my story? A social/political structure to overcome? A war? A natural desaster? A personal problem? A relationship problem? A 'bad guy'? What is the main plot line? Where do side plots come in? How is my main character built up? Introvert/Extrovert? Intuitive/Ovservant? Emotional/Rational? Flaws? Strengths? character, history, and physical appearance... Feel free to add to this, I'd love to get some ideas from you all! Happy writing!

By the way, Rachael, another purpose of the magic question, besides getting the most interesting types of ideas, is that narrowing down your research allows you to more easily have ideas in the first place! I know from my academic background how much it helps the process to ask specific research questions, and I'm certain this applies to fiction as well. So by asking magic questions (1) we'll have an easier time getting ideas, and (2) we'll get better ideas. Well done, Rachael! :)

When you said "microwave" I literally just started hitting microwave buttons

Great video. For me, brainstorming comes at night, when I relax. I think about my story, a scene, or some dialog and I go over it again and again. Then in the morning, I sit at the computer and start typing what I remember of that thinking time....and I always get surprised. New ideas pop up as I type. One idea morphs into another. A bit of dialog triggers a new line of thought. And when I get sidetracked, or run off on another tangent, I let it happens, because so many times these tangents from my subconscious create links I hadn't thought about before or set up foreshadowing ideas that turn out to be perfect for the story even though I hadn't planned on them. For example, I had a character say (unplanned in my general outline) that they weren't good with numbers, so they had an accountant to do their books and payroll. As I wrote that down, I wondered who was the accountant. That led to a string ideas of the accountant finding her boss dead and eventually being charged, and asking the (cozy mystery) heroine to help her clear herself. I ended up pushing the idea and wrote 10 pages of a plot for a later book in the series....all because of one statement. Isn't your subconscious a writer's best friend? Yeah! LOL

Hi Rachael, these are some good ideas, should I ever need them. I'm definitely going to keep this in one of my tabs. Personally, I have never done a brainstorming session. I have always been a creator, since I was a child, and have never really found myself needing to think my way out of, or through, any written corners. On the other hand, I have always had my critical thinking brain turned to the on position, so, maybe that's the reason. I am about 75% plotter, 25% pantser. I tend to outline, but leave just enough room for my imagination to take tangents if necessary while writing.

I do the talking to myself thing XD every day when I'm in the car and driving to work... and I love that. It's so great and helpful. I just am stuck right now with one question and it is killing me.

The Holmes method is definitely the one that works best for me, but it can be a little embarassing starting the conversation xP

I know you've touched on it briefly before probably but how long do you work on an idea when you start to think it might be complete garbage before you decide if you're going to scrap it or not? Thanks so much for the new vid

My method is odd. I get a general direction of the story and a few points to hit and an ending and just write everything that happens in one sentence. One sentence per scene, and just write down whatever feels right that should happen next. Its worked for me in the past. You tend to get a few extraneous scenes but some judicious editing fixes that and then you use the sentences as a guide for what scene is next and what happens in it. Its a kind of "pants like" outline.

You make brainstorming look good 😆😉😜

I'm back. I come back to specific videos semi-periodically. I'm struggling with brainstorming in the sense that I can just keep going and exploring different threads and subthreads infinitely and never know how to nail down which ones to stick with. I can't get to my draft because I can't find good healthy endings to my brainstorming.

This is a reminder of why you should wait until the end of a video to comment things... I suggested Freewriting as an alternative to the term "Brain Dump" because to me, they're basically the same thing. You sit down and write as much as you can about a topic in an attempt to empty your brain. Sometimes you focus on something specific, sometimes you chase the train of your thoughts, sometimes you just write whatever comes out of your fingers. Another alternative is a thought bowl. While "brain dumping" I always imagine sticking a spout to the side of my head and draining out all the excess thoughts from my brain into a bowl that can hold them. The bowl being a piece of paper or an empty word document, in this case.

My favorite method is the verbal Holmes method. I've been doing it for years, before realizing it technically is a brainstorming method.

very good - as anthony robbins says - the answer is in the question!

You are not just smart: you, my friend, are scary smart. I'm in awe. And I will confess to talking to myself; people who know me think I'm weird anyway! I have a twenty minute commute to work and from the moment I back away from home I begin brainstorming. Hearing the words forces me to focus. Otherwise my boybrain gets distracted!

OMG i have a saying i wanna use words like lego blocks :) :) :)

you seem to have a really good visual eye i wonder how you never got into interior design or fashion or landscape architecture or something

I'll admit I've kind of always pushed brainstorming to the side. I thought brainstorming was just for coming up with ideas, I'd never considered it as a problem-solving technique. Time to give brainstorming a real chance.

Do you have an Instagram or tumblr to follow?

D.Va located!

Shouldn't I be strapping tunnelling gear on? ;)

Are you an ENFP or ENTP? You said brainstorming is what you're best at, so that means Ne is probably your strongest function. Not sure if you value logical consistent(Ti) & social harmony(Fe) more or less than authencity(Fi) & problem solving(Te). Probably Fi&Te since you're talking about problem solving. So, likely you're an ENFP.

Field trip time, destination- The Akashic Records Museum

Someone’s a D. VA main

Sorry but you are REALLY bad at swearing..

So long to get to the point... Tiring

O wow 🤩 nice Not!🤣

I thought I was going to like this but she says a lot of bad words

Stop saying ****and****