Writing for Odyssey every week has really opened my eyes. Not only do I now possess stronger brainstorming capabilities, but I am also more confident in my writing as a whole. I no longer flounder when looking for a topic to write about, because I have systems in place to help me brainstorm and come up with complete and interesting ideas. One helpful tip for brainstorming: buy a book of writing prompts. It will save your life some day!
Forcing thoughts to flow and sentences to form might sound counter-intuitive. I always thought forcing myself to write would make terrible ideas come out that wouldn't be worth anything. However, by writing nonsense, I often come up with some of my most profound ideas. I've developed running theories and beliefs that I still talk about and research to this day. I have spent years talking about some of these concepts, such as how writing is a form of thinking. Without forced writing, only basic and conventional ideas will come out, which aren't usually worth following. Those ideas have been talked over and written about hundreds of times already. The original work is all in the BS that's still inside your brain.
Why does any of this matter? It is a challenge. It is a challenge of not only your will, but also of your writing abilities. Write down all that junk that's in your brain. Come up with terrible ideas, then write about those until you come up with more terrible ideas. Those terrible ideas are the only thing that will lead you to awesome, spectacular, life-changing ideas. It takes effort, it takes time, it takes concentration. However, when you emerge on the other side after fighting through the army of loose thoughts in your brain, you will have something important to hold on to that will be useful for the rest of your life.
