Brainstorming
10/8/07
[I wrote the short essay below for undergraduate students but the ideas should also be useful to graduate students, professors, scientists, and other writers.]
When
confronted with a writing assignment, some of us mistakenly think that clear
sentences and ideas should come easily. But they seldom do. And so we stare
at the paper, we stare into space, put on a CD, eat some chips, stare at
the paper again, call a friend, change the CD, stare at the paper some more.
Because we believe that beautiful sentences and profound ideas should flow
complete from our brain to the paper, we are blocked. Our brain cannot seem
to do it, and the paper or computer screen remains clean.
Others
make the opposite mistake. They assume that whatever appears in their brain
is good stuff. They just let it flow to the paper, one idea leads to another
and then back again to the original idea and then off to an unrelated idea
and then back again to the original idea, back and forth and around and
they just keep writing until they have filled enough pages to satisfy the
instructor. The paper writes itself. No problem.
You
should of course avoid both mistakes. I am more sympathetic with those who
make the first mistake, who are blocked because they think they don't have
anything to say or because it seems so hard to start, or because the ideas
seem complex and contradictory. Time is passing and you have lots of empty
paper (or blank computer screen) in front of you.
Those
who commit the second mistake, who simply heave whatever comes to mind straight
to paper, have an easier time, I suppose, but they also have problems. Consider
that their paper's thrust will depend on their first idea. That idea may
be good, but it could be bad or scattered, considering that they spend so
little time collecting and examining ideas/information. The page or computer
screen will be filled with words, but the ideas may be undeveloped or disconnected.
To
avoid both mistakes, you should brainstorm and diagram before
writing (and while writing). Do not start a paper by trying to write
the perfect first sentence or the perfect opening paragraph. Do not
start a paper by writing the paper! Start the paper by collecting and examining
information and thoughts. We call this brainstorming, and brainstorming
is easier done with pencil and paper than with the computer.
When
you brainstorm, don't write complete sentences. Don't worry about grammar
or spelling. Don't worry about staying within the lines of the paper. Don't
judge your ideas. You will revise later. When you brainstorm, your job is
to collect all your thoughts without judging them. Just think about the
topic and write down whatever comes to mind. Let your mind consider the
material without worrying yet about how you will wrap it up in a paper.
Because you won't think of everything in one session, you should brainstorm
several times. You also may have to find some new information. Some of your
ideas may be irrelevant or incorrect, but you can always discard them or
modify them later.
Once
you have a page of words and phrases that capture your ideas on the subject,
look for connections, look for themes (main ideas), look for patterns. Draw
circles around related information and connect ideas with arrows. Try numbering
which circled groups of information need to come early in a paper and which
should appear late. In doing this, you will have produced a cluster diagram.
To produce the cluster diagram, you may be able to use your original brainstorming
paper or you may have to rewrite the material on a new sheet of paper. Do
whatever works. You are not concerned with neatness or correct grammar.
You are assembling your thoughts, looking for how the thoughts might be
organized and connected. You are staying high and free and not being tied
up by whether a sentence sounds correct or whether a particular idea is
good or bad.
After
you have brainstormed and clustered, begin outlining and writing complete
sentences and paragraphs. Of course, as you write you will decide that some
patterns require change or that some patterns are more important than others—we
also refer to this as 'thinking'. You will also identify information gaps—get
the information.