Writing skills 1: generating ideas

When a writer begins a story, scene, or poem, there is always some kind of starting point: an idea, or perhaps several ideas. So, where do these ideas come from, and what can you do in order to have more successful ones? There are a number of techniques which can help:

Relaxation

As creativity researcher Csíkszentmihályi (1996) says, a writer needs to achieve the flow of engagement with their task, and it is important not to think how the end product will be received by critics.  Avoiding the 'fear of the blank page' can mean avoiding worrying (or even thinking) about the end product and how it will be received. Instead, the aim is to become immersed in the task.

Flow is the state of being relaxed but focused.
Image by premasagar

However, a bit of balance is required - getting too relaxed is not helpful!  Focus on a clear short-term goal can help to achieve this 'flow'.

Mind mapping

A mind map (see main article) is a method of note taking which links words and ideas in a cluster or spider-shaped diagram. Its non-linear form can be helpful in triggering non-obvious connections in your mind, and developing possibilities that might have been quickly discarded if they weren't down on paper.

Brainstorming

Probably an overused term, especially in the workplace, but it still has its uses. The basic concept is to come up with a lot of ideas, however stupid they might seem at first. A later review stage is used to discard the less promising ones, but - hopefully - find one or two rough diamonds among the coal dust.

The key to brainstorming is to be non-critical.  Author Fay Weldon says that a writer needs two personalities: the creator of first drafts who is sloppy, emotional and impetuous, and the later editor who is argumentative, cautious and rational (Singleton and Luckhurst, 2000).

Freewriting

Freewriting is the author's equivalent of Sigmund Freud's technique, free association. Essentially it means letting one idea lead to another, without trying to consciously guide the process.  Freud believed that the process could uncover the id or unconscious mind.  Modern psychologists would probably see it as a way of switching off the conscious processes which direct and oversee human thought - your metacognition.

It can be useful to try freewriting first thing in the morning, as a sleepy state makes it easier to switch off this metacognition.  The subjects of your dreams can also feed in to the freewrite. But freewrites can also be directed, as in the following task...

Writing task

Gather a list of writing prompts - words, phrases or pictures will do, or compile some more detailed prompts from websites (e.g. here). Using a timer, set 5 minutes to brainstorm, mind map or freewrite on each one.  Give it a try! Better still, make it a regular starting point to your daily writing time.

Kitchen timer by pasukaru76

References
Csíkszentmihályi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. New York: Harper Perennia.
Singleton, J. and Luckhurst, M. (2000).  The Creative Writing Handbook.  Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave.

The many uses of the mind map

A mind map is an image with words or pictures connected by lines.  The technique of drawing up a mind map is commonly used for idea generation or planning, and the maps themselves are sometimes used for revision/memorisation.  They are generally brightly coloured, and are supposed to represent the connections our minds make as we think.

An example of a mind map - image from mythoughtsformac

How is it done?

The technique's main proponent is Tony Buzan, author of The Mind Map Book (Buzan, 1996).  He suggests that to be effective, mapping has to be done in a specific way, including:

• Using a single, central image
• Writing words along lines rather than connecting them with lines
• Keeping all lines the same length
• Using a variety of colours
• Using images where possible
• Making the overall map visually distinctive

Peculiarly, Buzan states that mind mapping is a very different thing from a spider diagram - I'm still not too sure why!

Fact or pseudoscience?

The technique seems to originate from the undoubted fact that the brain forms associations between different words and concepts, which in the 1960s and 1970s began to be drawn as semantic maps:

However, a mind map uses one central image or word which every other item links to, forming a hierarchy.  It is pretty clear that the brain doesn't process ideas on the basis of hierarchies.  For example, when we see a fork, we don't process it via a clunky list of categories:

• It's an object -> kitchen implement -> item of cutlery -> fork

Indeed, we don't even think in words at all.

Buzan has made a successful career out of mind maps, but can only feed the skeptics with dubious statements like the following in a 2009 interview:

"It is my firm belief that every brain is, by nature, a mind mapper! The fact that a baby learns a language is evidence confirming that it must learn by multi-sensual images and their radiating associations."

He also places great store by the visual similarity of a mind map to the connections of a brain's neurons.  By this logic, we will all work better using from brain-shaped paper!  So, is there any scientific support?

Efficacy of mind-mapping

Perhaps the most important question about mind maps is 'do they work?' Researchers Farrand et al. (2002) compared the effectiveness of mind-mapping with a free choice of study technique to learn a 600-word essay. Participants were medical students, and they were tested straight away after a distraction task, and again a week later.

Farrand et al used medical students in
their study.  Image from TulanePublicRelations

A significant improvement was found in both groups, but only the mind-mapping group maintained their improvement after one week.  Motivation was lower in the mind-map group compared to free choice of technique.  Researchers concluded that mind-maps improved recall, and would have done so even more strongly had motivation to use them been higher.

Brainstorming

For writers and other professionals, a mind map is most likely to be used for planning or brainstorming (although unlike brainstorming, mind mapping is primarily an individual rather than group technique).  My first ever mind map a plan for a novel (as yet unwritten, ten years on!)  A mind map provides a structure to idea generation, and is supposedly less linear than simply listing ideas.

In research with executives, Mento et al. (1999) found it useful for capturing ideas and planning.  As with the Farrand et al. study, success may depend heavily on users' opinions of the technique and motivation to use it - it is unlikely to work well with people who are unenthusiastic, or simply have other methods that they prefer.

Mind mapping can be time consuming, but if nothing else, it's very easy to do, and can be much better than staring at a blank sheet of paper, waiting for ideas to come.

References
Buzan, T. (1996).  The Mind Map Book.  London: Penguin.

Farrand, P., Hussain, F., and Hennessy, E. (2002).  The efficacy of the 'mind map' study technique.  Medical Education, 36(5), 426-431.
Mento, A.J., Martinelli, P. and Jones, R.J. (1999). Mind mapping in executive education: applications and outcomes.  Journal of Management Development, 18(4), 390-416.