Episode 27: How we personally brainstorm and come up with ideas
In this week’s episode, Fable and the Verbivore share some of their methods and tools for brainstorming writing ideas and storing those ideas for future projects.
We start out by exploring how we use the website Pinterest as a way to capture inspiration images that represent visual design elements, spark certain emotions, or express in shorthand the feel of a project in a way that would be more complicated to capture in a written format.
As part of our discussion, the Verbivore describes how she developed ideas for her Kid’s book WIP using life experiences, emotions, or conversations to hone in on what fit within that project in a way that resonated with the overall idea. One practical tool, was color psychology charts that she used to help determine what each book would look like from a visual design perspective and reflect the personality of the child who inspired each book.
We talk about a variety of ways that help move projects forward when you hit a roadblock, such as:
Creating space and silence for the ideas to arrive
Pushing through and writing the scene poorly, so that you can better understand what is wrong with it
Art begets art. Reading books, writing parallel to your project, watching tv shows, watching movies, watching plays, and listening to musicals and music of all sorts that resonate with what you’re exploring may spark ideas
Researching and moving forward other elements of your project (worldbuilding, character development, historical research, etc.) while you go through the gestation period with your WIP
Writing in a journal words/phrases that come to mind or free writing (without judgement)
We also chat about the different ways we each tend to prefer to work and how we have emraced going against those preferences to see what we create. The Verbivore discusses how she had to realize that she tends to write better in a non-linear fashion, which is the oppposite of how Fable prefers to write.
Each way a writer works and brainstorms is unique and has merit, and there is no right way to do it. But sometimes going at it another way can also teach you and foster inspiration.
We hope that you are staying safe and finding time to practice self-care! Keep creating and putting your voice out there!
Into the woods,
Fable & The Verbivore
Notes:
The Verbivore references the quote from Neil Gaiman that says, “Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.”
Music from: https://filmmusic.io
’Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)