Finding Ideas For Writing

Posted by qpen on September 15, 2009

Writing is built on ideas. The blank page or computer screen is a terror to many writers, EVEN professional writers, not because they lack the words, but because they lack a workable idea.

Writing starts with getting an idea and collecting information about it.

“Easily said,” you may be thinking, “not so easily done.” Well, there are practical helps:

pre-writing techniques for stirring up ideas.

Here is a list of techniques…you may get an idea for your writers journal and then use imagining to explore it and get started.

You’ll discover which techniques work for the task and your personal writing approach.

• Writers Journal: Recording personal experiences, perceptions and ideas

• FreeWriting: Writing for a few minutes about whatever comes to mind

• Brainstorming: Listing ideas (alone or with others) as quickly as they occur

• Mapping: Drawing lines and circles to show connections between ideas

• Reading With A Focus: Reading efficiently to locate and collect specific information

• Listening With A Focus: Listening attentively to locate and collect specific information

• Shaping and Grouping Ideas Noticing details through the senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch

• Define your focus: Probing your imagination for ideas, often using a “What If?” approach