Brainstorming and the Support of a Good Writer’s Group

My writer’s group met recently. I love them. Kurt blogs about history. Carrie blogs about writing and reading. Dave blogs about self-publishing and other musings. Michele offers home-buying tips. A new-ish member had a concern about the writing dry times and how to get over them. I wrote on the Potomac Review about how I generate ideas and approach outlining. I rarely take the time to brainstorm. I really only do it out of desperation. I had an opportunity early in the fall to listen to words of wisdom from Maxine Hong Kingston who talked about how she made time to just sit and think. What a gift – the time to just sit and think! Every time I sit down to brainstorm, the good ideas come pouring out, and I try to remember how rewarding that time is (sometimes as little as 10 minutes!) But then I forget the awesomeness of brainstorming and weeks later find myself spending more time panicking about how I don’t like where a story is going than I would spend just thinking about it. Someday soon, I hope to figure out to brainstorm first and panic later.