Brainstorm #1: Choosing Your Topic

Ready to write your novel?
Grab a journal or your computer and follow along. Each week a new group of prompts will be posted from the book "Brainstormers: Outlining Your First Draft." When finished you will have brainstormed the outline of your novel including the details of each chapter.

On average each prompt is given about 3 minutes to complete though some are shorter and some are longer as needed. If a prompt inspires you and you need more time, pause the video until you finish or simply keep writing and go back and finish the rest of the prompts later. (A list of the prompts is provided here in the description box as well.) If a prompt doesn't fit your book or doesn't inspire you, spend the time writing down other details about your story. Ask yourself questions about your characters and setting and write down the possibilities. Also, if you have music that you prefer, simply hit mute and play your own music as you brainstorm. Just make sure to check for the new prompts.

List of prompts:
What profession do you have the most experience in?
Have you mastered a skill or hobby?
What do you enjoy reading?
What do you enjoy researching or learning about?
Have you had a unique or interesting experience?
Have you traveled or lived in an interesting place?
Did you have a unique or interesting childhood experience?
What challenging events have you faced?
Who are some of the people who inspire you?
Make a list of your favorite books or movies
Have you ever said, "This would make a great book or movie."?

Turn your lists into possible topics for a story and choose 3 of your favorite topics.
What characters do your lists inspire?
What settings do your lists inspire?
What situations, events, or plots do your lists inspire?

Enjoy the brainstorming process. The goal is to come up with ideas and possibilities. What you put down is not written in stone. Don't worry if you are not certain of an idea or if some of your ideas conflict with each other. During the brainstorm let the ideas flow. At the end of each brainstorm, you will go back over your ideas and choose the ones that are best for your novel.

Have a free weekend or the perfect writing day and can't wait for the next prompt vlog? Or if you want more information on the prompts along with some examples to help clarify, you can download the free ebook "Brainstormers: Outlining Your First Draft" from Smashwords here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1094599

Music: Winter Magic by Roa https://soundcloud.com/roa_music1031
Creative Commons - Attribution 3.0 Unported - CC BY 3.0

Video by Christian Bodhi from Pixabay
https://pixabay.com/users/christianbodhi-9869182/
https://pixabay.com/videos/ocean-flowers-coast-shore-wind-75701/

Frame from video by NickyPe from Pixabay
https://pixabay.com/users/nickype-10327513

Prompts: Copyright Rose Canfield