Day #2 - letter B, on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. And my topic?
Brainstorming
Now normally I've been a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of writer.
When a story comes to me, I just sit down, and start writing. After all, you never know when your muse will decide to pack up and take a vacation - leaving your fingers to sit idle at the keyboard.
Which is strange, because I'm also a huge list person. We're talking, every single day, I make lists with tiny boxes next to each action item, that gets filled in once I've completed the task at hand. And yes, I will write down a task that I've already completed, if I forgot to add it to begin with, draw the tiny box, and fill it in. Don't judge. :)
So it's weird I never took this same idea to my writing.
But lately I've kinda changed my tune.
I'm sure it's because of this uber revision process I'm undergoing with Mr. Agent Man. He's challenged me to sit down and map out my entire story. See where all of my characters are going, find out if they even belong, determine if there are other paths I could be taking, and relook it all from an outside perspective vs. trying to just make it work.
To think about all of the possibilities.
And that's exactly what I've done. With the help of an enourmous white board and various colored dry erase markers and post-its (cause that's how I roll), I'm constantly mapping out my story and brainstorming where it all can go - then I take a picture with my iPad and download it onto one of my writing apps, erase the white board, and start again.
I thought sitting down and just writing, was amazing - and believe me, when I'm on, I'm on...and I can tap out 20,000 words in one day, easily. But the ideas that have now been unleashed because I've taken it all one step further? Unimaginable. And it just goes to show that sure, sit down and write it all out when you're Muse wants to play - take advantage of that! But when she's off visiting some foreign land without you - take the time to brainstorm all the potential avenues your new story could be taking.
Because you never know what might happen when you unleash your creativity.