Brainstorming for Writers II: Using Starter Lists

I have analogies cluttering up my mind this morning. So far in this discussion of starting a project, I’ve mentioned travel destinations for goal setting, a thunderstorm for generating topics, a drunken wombat for...Oh, no, that was just an idea that never panned out. Never mind.

Anyhow, yesterday I talked about the technique of brainstorming to generating story ideas, but soon realized I should be more specific. So today, I will elaborate on using starter lists. 

The analogy goes back to the travel destination idea. If your destination is, say, Washington, DC, and your vehicle is an automobile (novel), generating starter lists is fueling that car before setting out on the road. 

By the way, you may want to consult a road map (develop an outline) prior to leaving the house, but that’s another topic for another day.

On a separate page entitled “Brainstorming Starter Lists,” you will see the beginnings of five such lists: objects, places, events, animals and  activities. How do you use them? A writer adds to each list until he/she runs out of items. Shoot for at least 15 on each list, but do not be afraid to add more or get frustrated if you can not reach that number.

Also on that page, you will find three items that might appear on your list. You do NOT have to use any of them. If you want to, you certainly may, but it’s not required. Then, to show you how big things come from small ideas, you will find specific literary works and/or movies that used each item. The inclusion of these works is only meant as inspiration to remind you that, “There’s no such thing as a dumb idea.”

Are these the only lists allowed? To quote my good friend Snagglepuss, “Heavens to Murgatroyd! No!”

Adding your own lists is not only allowed, it’s encouraged and for good reasons. For example, let’s look at your vehicle. If you’re writing a novel, you want deep, well-rounded characters. Therefore, you might want such lists as occupations, national origins, pet peeve, etc. The more ideas you have, the more you can do with your story.

When it comes to logistics, I suggest you write one list title on separate sheets of paper or on a separate page in your word processor. If you use Scrivener or a similar program, you can open individual entries in “Research.” (Mega-slick!) My only issue with that technique is I’m kind of old-school in that I like to have paper that I can scribble on later. (I haven’t found a way to do that on my computer without making a mess of my monitor. Hint: Sharpies on your Macbook Pro screen? Not a good idea.)

What will you do with these lists? Ah! Stay tuned for Part III coming soon to a blog near you. Specifically this one.