Thursday, January 18, 2007

Brainstorming Methods for Freelance Writers

How do you brainstorm ideas? Are there any particular ways that seem to work best for you over other methods? Are your brainstorming methods different depending on the type of project you're working on? (A short story vs. a how-to article, for example.)

Personally, the best ideas come to me when I've got my trusty notebook and a few pens at my side. I can write whatever ideas come to mind, then go back later and revise them into coherent thoughts.

Please share your brainstorming methods below. Need help coming up with ideas? Check out the helpful thread, found at the Allfreelancing forum, below.

http://www.allfreelancing.com/showthread.php?tid=83

Happy Days,

Denise

5 Comments:

At 2:54 PM, Blogger Georganna Hancock M.S. said...

All I've ever needed to come up with freelance article ideas is a newspaper. When I worked on a smaller local paper, my freelance leads came from the classifieds -- amazing stuff buried there!

 
At 2:57 PM, Blogger Anita said...

There's a few ways I brainstorm:
1. Read random stuff - magazines, blogs, humor sites, etc.
2. Meet up with friends. A night out with friends gives me more ideas than I can ever use.
3. Go for a run.

Best,
Anita ;)

 
At 3:12 PM, Blogger Denise said...

Anita,

I'm not much of a runner myself, but that's an interesting idea to brainstorm! Thanks for the feedback :)

Georganna,

Wow, I never would have thought the classified ads would prove useful resources for article ideas!

 
At 4:18 PM, Blogger word_slinger said...

For the mainstream magazines I write for, I force myself to watch really crappy shows on MTV.

I also read old magazines to see if I can recycle some articles and/or make it better.

The best way to brainstorm is do large amounts of cocaine.

Ok. Just kidding.

 
At 4:28 PM, Blogger Denise said...

Haha, thank you for your very entertaining comment word_slinger :)

I would have to force myself to watch really crappy MTV shows as well. I can't stand that network.

 

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