Writing FAST - Jeff Bollow 2012

The great storm
Capture your idea
Focus

If we use this lightning speed analogy, and think of the electrical pulses in our brains as lightning bolts, it gives the word “brainstorm” a much more dynamic meaning, dontcha think?

Personally, I imagine a wicked electrical storm, throwing bolts of ideas out in every direction. It’s one vibrant, almost uncontrollable rush of energy and madness, all at the same time. It’s dark and mysterious, yet incredibly powerful and consuming.

Oddly enough, that’s exactly what it’s supposed to be.

When you think of a brainstorming session, what do you imagine? A bunch of businessmen sitting around a boardroom table, throwing ideas onto a whiteboard?

No way! It’s much more dynamic than that.

And it’s a tool you can use to find and capture exactly the right idea.

Brainstorming is simple. You think up as many ideas as you possibly can. You let your mind roam free. You don’t judge anything. The weirdest, craziest, most off-the-wall ideas that pop into your head get put down on paper, too.

In fact, that’s the entire secret to brainstorming. Don’t judge anything. Let ideas spark ideas. Write down everything. If I say the word “car”, you immediately picture a car in your head, right? Good. Now brainstorm.

What kind of car is it? It’s probably either the one you drive, or the one you want to drive. Great. Now what do those images spark? Write a list of everything that pops into your head.

What about car-related items? Things like keys, and wheels, and tires, and windshields, and doors and windows. Or things that aren’t on the car, but are car-related. Things like insurance, fuel, accidents, registration, squeaks, rattles and...

And your mind is off and running.

For your writing project, brainstorm the central idea of the piece. It could be a theme, a moral, a concept, or anything. But it’s the whole idea you’re trying to put in the reader’s head.

The key to brainstorming is to avoid judgment. You can judge it later. When you start, just get ideas on the page. You want to capture one, right? Well, you just might need to let a few sparks go off before you can get there.

Just remember to write them down.

When you do, you can pluck the idea that works.

This quick little car example gave me an analogy:

Ideas are like hit-and-run drivers. They have a funny way of appearing from out of nowhere, broadsiding you, and then disappearing, and never coming back.

Capture them now, or they’ll be gone forever.