j mark miller | a writer's fantasy

Find the Brainstorming Method that Works Best for You

Writers get asked all the time, “Where do get your ideas?”

Sometimes, this is the cry of an aspiring writer who’s suffering a drought in the idea department. They look at another writer, perhaps a friend or acquaintance, or a writer they admire and wonder where all their great ideas come from.

Sound familiar?

BRAINSTORMING

Some Ideas are Made, Some are Discovered

I wrote last week about the need to create space for your ideas to grow. New ideas often die because our lives are so filled with activity our minds don’t have time to stretch.

But what happens when you give yourself the time to ponder and dream and nothing happens? The truth of the matter is you have to work to figure out what method of idea creation works best for you.

Giving your imagination and creativity space to operate is crucial, but it’s not the only ingredient for the formation of ideas that eventually become stories. Sure, you might get a seed that seems like it could go somewhere, but what do you do with it once you’ve got it?

Some ideas come fully formed, but most have to be shaped, molded, and expanded before they’re worth anything of value.

Try Different Methods Until You Find the Perfect Fit

I’m a pretty tech-savvy guy. I try, as much as my budget will allow, to keep up with the latest hardware and software to foster my writing. I’ve learned, however, that using an old-fashioned spiral notebook and pen is the best method of brainstorming for me. Something about the ruled paper makes me want to fill it up, and ideas flow. I jot down plots, outline novels, create characters, and record research notes in a notebook. I eventually reach critical mass and find I’m ready to start transferring all I’ve created into a Scrivener file. This sounds like making more work for myself, but I’ve learned that I’m able to refine my ideas as I type those notes up.

Here’s some more ideas you could try to help your brainstorming sessions.

  • Draw pictures: You don’t have to be an artist, just sketch out something in your head. It could be a rough sketch of a character’s clothing, or perhaps the layout of a room, or a map of some sort.
  • Mindmap: There are free and trial versions of mind mapping software available, or just use paper and pencil. Take a seed idea and map out the connections and possibilities. Keep what works and discard the rest, or save them for later.
  • Outline: Some writers poo-poo outlining, choosing to be pantsers who prefer to let the story flow. Well, be honest, sometimes that doesn’t work. You can write yourself into a corner. If you’ve got a plot going nowhere, consider outlining.
  • Character development: Dream up some characters. They don’t need to be connected to any particular story. Just create some folks and see if their story speaks to you. You may find they’ve lived a life work writing about.
  • Use a voice recorder: Get away from the computer and take a walk, talking through your ideas as you go.

The key here is to try new methods until you find one that fits for you. Perhaps you’ll find using a mix of methods works.

If sitting there staring at a white page on you computer screen isn’t working, try something, anything different.

What brainstorming methods would you add to the list? What works for you? Please share in the comments.

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Filed Under: The Writing Life

A Verdant and Capricious Moon—Part 10

This is the 10th post of 10 in the series, A Verdant and Capricious Moon

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“Transition ETA is three minutes,” Chidlow’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker. The crew had been strapped back in for nearly an hour, but she’d been keeping the personnel in the back apprised of their progress over the PA system.

Khan and Fangen initiated shutdown procedures across their control boards, bringing down everything from communications to propulsion. Based on their experience during the previous crossing, Chidlow had ordered every system shut down except life support. She hoped a proper shut down would prevent damage during transition.

Anthea reached for Jin’s hand, lacing their fingers together as they waited. Though the crossing was a new experience, he seemed so calm. She should be the one taking it stride since she’d experienced the transition before, but she knew it was the very reason for her unease. Coming through it unscathed the first time was something of a miracle. Being forced to endure it again was a nightmare.

Barzelay finally clamped his mouth shut at Chidlow’s announcement. He’d been going non-stop since they’d reassembled in the cockpit. Maybe his own nerves were catching up. There was a vast difference between talking about theories and being a part of the experiment to prove them. She hoped he was right about his theories, for all their sakes.

“Velocity is steady,” Khan reported. “Estimating transition in sixty seconds.” With that report he powered his console down. His last action was to reach over and punch a large yellow pushbutton to make the viewport shutters slam home.

The stars disappeared and the overhead lights winked out. The systems were down and they were effectively blind. Anthea saw Barzelay’s face in the glow of his wristwatch as he silently counted down the seconds to transition.

Jin gave her hand a comforting squeeze. She sensed his head turn to her in the darkness and turned her own. He whispered across the space between them.

“I love you, Anthea-chan.”

Anthea gripped his hand tighter. “I love you, Jin.”

Transition.

Anthea jerked forward in her seat. The straps held her in place, but some invisible force struck her chest like a hammer, driving her breath away. Jin’s hand was wrenched away in the darkness. She tried to call his name. Her breath wouldn’t come.

Tremors wracked the shuttle, more intense than before. Anthea heard screaming from the back of the shuttle. Khan let out a curse. The glow of Barzelay’s wristwatch flailed up and down.

A shriek split the air, the sound of rending metal. Some piece of the shuttle was torn away, but they could still breathe.

Breathe.

Anthea worked to calm herself and take a decent breath. She tried to reach out for Jin but his chair was too far away. She tried to call his name but her voice failed her.

Then it was over. The tremors stopped and the shuttle moved through the heavens like a ship on a glassy sea.

“Get the systems back up,” Chidlow ordered. “And somebody give us some lights.”

“Jin?” Anthea managed to croak. There was no answer.

“Systems coming online,” Khan said as his console started lighting up.

“Looks like the communications array weathered the storm,” Fangen said. “We should be able to bring up Houston in a few minutes.”

“Jin?” Anthea said louder.

The lights came up and Anthea looked Jin’s way. Her heart died.

A sharp wail cut through the air from the back of the shuttle.

“No, no, no, no,” Anthea started chanting, praying she’d wake up from her nightmare.

“They’re gone,” Barzelay said.

“What?” Chidlow demanded.

“Caygill and Mandelstrom,” Barzelay’s voice was ragged. “They’re gone.”

Bonell came up from the rear. “The Lunar Base crew is gone.”

“We have to go back,” Anthea begged. “We have to go back.”

“We can’t,” Khan said, “it’ll tear the ship apart. We barely made through in one piece.”

Anthea wrestled with her harness. “Jin’s back there! We have to go back.”

“Look at the status board,” Fangen said. “We lost a cargo bay door. We’d never survive another crossing.”

“But they’ll die back there,” Anthea wailed. “Jin will die.”

“What happened, Doc?” Khan asked.

“I don’t know that I can,” Barzelay said. “There’s no reason they shouldn’t have made the crossing with us.”

“Then where are they?” Chidlow said.

“I don’t know,” the little scientist said.

“Give me your best guess,” Chidlow insisted.

“If they’re not trapped between the dimensions somehow,” Barzelay looked at Anthea, sorrow clear on his face, “then it’s likely they were left floating free in space, pulled from the shuttle during the transition.”

“No,” Anthea whispered and started to cry.

“I’m sorry,” Barzelay said.

A voice broke through on the radio. “Armstrong this is Houston. Welcome home. You’re earlier than we expected.”

Chidlow turned and punched the transmit button. “Houston, there’s been an accident…”

***

“Mommy, did you hear me?”

Anthea wiped a stray tear from her cheek as she broke from her trance. She looked up to see her daughter reading Goodnight Moon.

“I heard you, baby,” Anthea searched her daughter’s face, always able to find traces of the girl’s father. “How are the drawings wrong?”

“It’s the wrong color.”

The little hairs stood up on the back of Anthea’s neck. “What color should it be, Luna?”

“Why, green and blue, of course.”

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Filed Under: A Verdant and Capricious Moon, Science Fiction

Rise of the Sun King—Chapter 2.3

This is the 10th post of 12 in the series, Rise of the Sun King

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The two brothers were jarred from sleep by a loud, insistent knock at the door. Sultry bolted upright from the floor and yelled, “Wardens!”

“Hush,” Tinker hissed in annoyance.

“But what if they’ve tracked me back here, just like you said.”

Tinker rolled his eyes in the darkness. “By the Light, you’re as bad as Glance. Wardens don’t give fugitives a courtesy knock. But if it is a Warden and they’ve heard you, you’ve just given them reason to be suspicious. It’s probably Glance finally coming home for the night.”

Sultry nodded then whispered, “What if it’s a Shadow?”

Tinker sighed. “Then we’d already be dead and would be having this conversation in the Abyss. Now shut up.”

Tinker threw his covers aside, pulled the hood off of his lamp, and walked to the door. A short, hunchbacked man with a long white beard stood in the hallway. He squinted as if the light of Tinker’s lamp hurt his eyes.

The old man walked in without invitation. “You’re awake.”

“Mash,” Tinker snarled, “you pest. What’re you doing? It’s the middle of the night.”

The old man ignored him and pushed toward the work bench. There, he started rummaging through the drawers, muttering incoherently.

“Where’re the stones?” the old man insisted. “I know you’ve got some.”

Tinker grabbed the codger’s arm and spun him around. “What are you talking about? Get out of my drawers.”

Mash’s free hand was still rattling around in a drawer behind his back. His eyes went wide as he found what he was looking for.

“Ha,” he exclaimed. “Found one.”

Frowning, Tinker looked down to see the old man holding up his fat-handled screwdriver—the lead-lined one with sunstones hidden inside. He snatched the tool out of the man’s wrinkled hand, “Leave my tools alone, you old fool.”

Mash pulled away and walked to the cupboard. The door banged open as he dove head first inside, rooting through the sparsely stocked shelves.

“There’s more in here somewhere,” the oldster’s voice was muffled inside the cupboard. “Looks like you got a little sneaky with this batch. What did you do? Stick it in a lead-glass jar?”

“What’s going on?” Sultry demanded. “Who’s this old coot, and what’s he looking for?”

Tinker’s face was a thundercloud. “He’s a crazy old man who moved into the building last month,” Tinker seethed through clenched teeth. “I get a visit like this about every other day, but never in the middle of the night before.”

“You let him rifle through your stuff like this all the time?”

“No, he’s never done this before either.”

Tinker grabbed Mash by his rope belt and yanked him out of the cupboard. The heavy glass jar he’d been holding fell from his hands and hit the floor with a heavy thud. Mash chased it around the room, clumsily kicking it away from himself each time he came close. Tinker tried to corral the man while Sultry made an effort to catch the jar himself, but they only ended up adding to the clatter. The old man started laughing gleefully, as if the whole thing were a sport.

Tinker’s downstairs neighbor started yelling in protest, threatening to call for a Warden if they kept up the racket. An empty threat, Tinker ignored their vexation in favor of his own.

Fed up, Tinker caught his brother by the arm, then kicked out a leg to trip up Mash as he clambered past. The old man tumbled to the floor and his hand pushed the jar hard across the floor. It spun under the bed and broke against the wall with a crash.

“I don’t believe it,” Tinker rolled his eyes toward the heavens.

Mash scrambled after the jar. “Whoo!” his muffled voice came from under the bed, “found some more.” Then he grew suddenly still and the brothers heard nothing more than a sniffing sound.

Mash finally pushed out from under the bed and struggled to his feet. “Whew,” he screwed up his eyes, “you’re going to need to clean that up. What a stench! What was in that jar?”

“Rotten cabbage,” Tinker’s clenched his teeth.

“Um, big brother,” Sultry asked, “why were you saving rotten cabbage in your cupboard?”

“What better place to hide sunstones?” quipped Mash.

Sultry backed away in shock. “You’re hoarding sunstones,” he sputtered.

“Yell it a little louder, little brother,” Tinker said. “I don’t think the new Warden upstairs heard you.”

Sultry open his mouth to retort then thought better of it once he caught the steel in his brother’s eyes. He shut his mouth and swallowed hard.

Tinker rounded on the old man. “How did you know?”

“I can feel them, can’t you?”

“You’re a Sniffer,” Tinker’s eyes went wide in realization. “But how did you sense them through the lead?”

“Bah!” Mash waved a hand, “A tiny layer of lead like that don’t help much. I could feel them calling me, keeping me awake until I couldn’t stand it no longer. I keep going and going until I can’t stay awake no more because I collapse. They were singing so loud I couldn’t wait any longer.”

“Is that why you’ve been pestering me every other day since you moved in, to see if you could find my sunstones?”

“Yeah, I needed to introduce myself so I can get some shuteye.”

“Introduce yourself?” Tinker frowned. “What does that mean?”

Mash stared up at Tinker as if he were dimwitted. “Don’t you know anything? I need to touch them, boy. Hold them in my hands so they won’t call out to me anymore with their song. Why else do you think they let you sleep through the night, you’ve touched them all and gotten acquainted.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Sultry waved his hands at the old man. “You’re saying my brother, my plain old surly brother, is a Sniffer too?”

“Of course he is, boy. You’re a lightspinner, so why wouldn’t he be?”

Sultry gave Tinker and accusing look. “You’ve hid it all these years, even from me.”

Tinker stood there facing the charge, offering neither confirmation nor denial. “You know it tends to run along family lines. It’s a wonder you never guessed.”

“I thought it missed every once in a while.”

“It does,” Tinker shrugged, “but not as often as you’d think. Sniffers can hide it pretty easily, especially since sunstones are rare to start with, not to mentioned outlawed. It’s not hard to never show any hint of ability.”

“That’s true,” said Mash, “until they start singing to you, then you just can’t stand it.”

Tinker looked down at the old man ruefully. “If I get my whole stash out and let you handle it, you’ll leave me alone?”

“Sure, at least until you get your hands any new stones, then I’ll be back.”

“Great,” Tinker rolled his eyes, “I’ll send you an invitation.”

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Filed Under: Fantasy, Rise of the Sun King

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Book Progress

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Rise of the Sun King
Phase:Serializing
4%
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Bitter Water
Phase:First Draft
90.1%
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250 Story Seeds
Phase:First Draft
56%

Available Series

Categories

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  • Serials (22)
    • A Verdant and Capricious Moon (10)
    • Rise of the Sun King (12)
  • The Writing Life (7)

My Books

The Foundlings

The Foundlings
The world’s only hope is in a prophecy hardly anyone believes in. The Foundlings is the beginning chapter in the epic Swords of Xigara trilogy—a coming-of-age story full of peril, intrigue, and discovery. Follow these adventurers as they strive against impossible odds to save their world—a world that may not want to be saved. More info →
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Behind the Hidden Places

Behind the Hidden Places
Behind the Hidden Places is an anthology of science fiction and fantasy short stories interspersed with free verse and true-to-life stories. Travel to the universe found just next door or found across the vast reaches of the multiverse. Discover, cherish, lose, and regain true love. Find a cure for cancer. Honor the fallen. Delve into the genesis of artificial intelligence. All within the pages of Behind the Hidden Places. More info →
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The Road to Awesome

The Road to Awesome
Upgrade your finances, work, home, community, and faith! Get passionate, work hard, sacrifice, be faithful, and get the results you want out of life. Get on The Road to Awesome. More info →
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