Brainstorming Ideas: 3 Effective Ways to Organize Your Thoughts

I know you want to be a writer. You know that you have talent but for some reason you don’t know what to write about.

What do you do?

Do you just let the dream go?

Remember when you had the idea about the government controlling the lives of the people various towns.

Wait?…

Was that The Giver?…No…It was Hunger Games…No…it was Divergent.

Okay, I’m sorry that wasn’t you.

But you have ideas, I’m sure.

Maybe 1 or 2?

Well, I want to talk to you about keeping up with those ideas. I want to help you create a simple way to start collecting your ideas.

You may have heard of them before. I’m sure at least one of them you used when you were in school.

#1 Brain Dump

Many times we have ideas just swirling around in heads.

We don’t know what we need to do with them.

They are just in there, distracting us from everything else we need to do in a day.

Many times they are great ideas and you don’t want to forget them because they could be valuable in your next great novel.

What do you do with them?

How do you know where to keep all of these valuable ideas?

I would suggest doing a brain dump.

An overstock of ideas need to be placed in a notebook or app so that they won’t get away from you.

You can even add those ideas to a recording app in your phone. You just speak them into the phone and go back to them later on.

With a brain dump you are getting those ideas to a safe place before you forget them.

It’s as simple as having a consistent place to write them down or record them.

This is an easy and effective way to hold on to all those ideas that you don’t know what to do with, until you know what to do with them.

After you have written them down, you can always go back and look at them in preparation for writing your story.

#2 Brainstorm

So what if you don’t have a lot of ideas just ready to dump on paper?

Then you have to think a little more.

I would start with a list of ideas. What do I think I want to write about?

Make a list from 1-10 and list things about that topic. If you have more ideas, make the list longer.

Find ways to be creative for ideas.

Read books by authors you like (Don’t steal their ideas but get ideas from them).

Watch movies – I always get ideas from movies

You could also look at some headlines or even some news stories.

There are so many ways to find ideas.

Keep making lists and then reflect on the ideas that you find.

Try to turn them into scenes and chapters.

Brainstorming can require some thinking but it is an effective way to organize your thinking.

#3 Mind Map

Mind Maps can work with brain dumps and brainstorms.

You would just categorize the ideas in bubbles or squares in connection with the main focus.

You can use mind maps to plan your plot, your characters, and even your conflict.

With mind maps you can connect symbols to themes, as well.

There is no end to what you can do with the help of a mind map.

It’s about organizing your ideas in the best way that works for you.

Mind maps are a great way to get the big picture of what you plan to write next.

Conclusion

Planning your writing is a great way to set yourself up for successful writing.

The use of brain dumps, brainstorming, and mind mapping are effective ways to plan your writing.

If you’re looking for easy tools to help you plan, I would suggest these.

Take out your journal and record those ideas.

Brainstorm new ideas and keep them in a regular place so that you can return to them.

Having a list of ideas to work from will definitely keep you writing.

Use mind maps to connect ideas and build on ideas.

If you want to keep writing, work on ways to organize your thoughts.

I hope these ideas helped you.

Let me know what I can help with. We’re on this writing journey together.

I want to help you keep your thoughts organized and flowing.

I can wait to talk with you soon.

Until next time! 

Aisha