I've been writing for the Odyssey for a little under a year now, and I cherish the time I have spent working on the blog. I wrote my first article on September 22, 2015 and since then I've written one every single week without fail. On good weeks, an idea will just pop into my head and I'll grab my laptop and type away until my idea has blossomed into a bouquet of literacy genius. On bad weeks, I sit in front of a blank Microsoft Word document and stare dully at it for hours, willing an idea, any idea, to come to me in my time of need. On these weeks I often write my piece on something completely fascinating like linoleum versus tile, the fundamentals of real estate development, or how many licks it actually takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop. In order to prevent myself from resorting to the most unimaginative and uninteresting topics on the face of this planet, I have concocted a couple foolproof brainstorming techniques. And if none of those work I write an article on what to write when you are just straight out of ideas.

Brainstorming Technique One: Take out a carton of eggs and a frying pan. Put a blindfold on and let all your worries and fears fade from your mind. Crack the eggs into the pan and use a spatula to mix them around in a haphazard design until your masterpiece feels complete. Remove your blindfold and gaze down upon your result. Think of it as a Rorschach test, and interpret your omelette as you would the inkblots.

Brainstorming Technique Two: Train yourself in the art of lucid dreaming. When you go to sleep at night have a subconscious conversation with everyone you know and ask them for help on what to write your next article about.

Brainstorming Technique Three: Use a Ouija Board to communicate with the spirits in your house. Ask them for their guidance on this endeavor of figuring out a topic and see what wisdom they have to bestow upon you.

Brainstorming Technique Four: Flick through the channels of the TV so fast you only catch one word from each channel. Write these words down so they form a sentence. Reread it at least twenty times and see if any inspiration stems from your newly formed sentence.

Brainstorming Technique Five: Take a leisurely drive through your hometown and people watch until inspiration hits. If you see nothing enthralling in your hometown venture out into the surrounding area.

Brainstorming Technique Six: Read the diary you kept in elementary school and see if 4th grade you had any ingenious ideas that would be of interest to present day you.