Tools for Brainstorming - Part I

I was stuck.

It happens more often than I care to admit. But it does happen. And when it does, I turn to my tired and true "techniques" for breaking through.

I have two methods which I will separate into two parts/posts.

Method I -- Sunflower seeds

Don't laugh! Brainstorming is serious business. What? You'd rather I gnaw away at my poor finger nails?

Okay, so maybe Part I is bit less "serious" but the fact remains -- this is what works for me. For anyone who's walked this line, you can understand when I say this is an addictive and focused activity. My mind becomes singularly focused on that stinkin' seed. I become myopic in that all other thoughts get flushed. And this is an important first step.

When I'm stuck, it's because clarity is alluding me. Things are muddled and the issue at hand is bombarded with so many other thoughts that I can't actually focus on the issue. Instead my brain is running in multiple directions.

I found that any action that forces focus, cleanses my head and allows me to start again.

Part II, will touch on mind-mapping and "on-the-couch" writing. You'll have to come back to learn about those methods :)

Okay, so back to my friends, the sunflower seeds.

The Process

Step 1:

Seeds! Get a bag, any bag will do.

Unfortunately, they are typically way too salty. What's a suffering writer to do?

Step 2:

Water! That's right. Apply water to sunflower seeds. Rinse 'em out a couple of times. Don't go crazy with this step. Just rinse, then pat dry. We're not making soup here.

Step 3:

Toast! Warm up a pan and drop them seeds right in. If there's still some water on the seeds, that's okay. The heat from the pan will cook it away.

Toss it around a bit. Move them seeds around so that they don't burn. Remember this, toast is good, burn is bad. Repeat it after me: toast is good, burn is bad.

Step 4:

Consume! Eat them like there's no tomorrow. As you crack, withdraw, chew and toss, think about the problem at hand.

The carnage!

The Method Behind the Madness

I'm sure you've heard of the saying, walking and chewing gum at the same time. This method is a take on that saying. You are focused on seeds and the problem -- nothing else. The seed is a physical process. Remember that a physical process that isn't automatic takes over both mind and body functions.

Focus and concentration are key elements in brainstorming a solution. Eliminate all thoughts that are blocking you and then start at the start -- the problem at hand. Nothing else.

“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” ~ Albert Einstein

Fight the good fight!

Gravity and the Magic of Writing

"Gravity cannot be held responsible for people falling in love." -- Albert Einstein

Albert, my friend, I think you may be wrong.

The universe is tethered to our galaxy. Our galaxy to our sun. Our sun to our planet. Our moon to our planet. Our planet to the people, and the people to each other.

Grand Universe by ANTIFAN-REAL -- http://antifan-real.deviantart.com/art/Grand-Universe-17189369

The force that binds the heavenly bodies is gravity.

What do we call the force that binds people together? Humanity? God? Love?

The connection is an orchestration of the kind that we may never properly understand.

I don't know what does the magic -- but the magic is real. And this magic goes far beyond connecting the obvious: people, nature, the oceans, the animals, ...

Think of a song that transports you in both time and place. A song that you heard twenty years ago in a place thousands of miles away. And in one instant, that tether is there, reminding you of the connection that was established so many years ago.

Think of your favorite novel. What tethers you to that book? Was it the story? The character? Or one obscure little line that forever altered your world?

Those of us who have elected to sink deep into the magic called writing, we realize that it really is magic. What else can we call it when one line sticks to you, latches on to you forever. What do you call it when words that were generated in my mind's eye are transferred to you, and you see the same thing--you experience the same vision? And years later when you think you've forgotten all about it, it hasn't forgotten you. For when you least expect it, that magic, that gravitiational pull will pop up.

I don't know what we call this force, but maybe it is gravity. And if it is gravity -- a form of it that we can't measure or test, yet -- then maybe gravity has a role in love as well. Maybe it can't be held responsible for falling in love... but maybe it can be held responsible for remembering, holding on to and not giving up on that love.

What made you love that song, that book, that person?

"Love lingers." -- Michael Koryta, The Cypress House