Welcome to Thinking about the topic: Brainstorming. In this video you'll
explore and practice how to brainstorm a list of ideas related to a topic. In this video you
will learn how to brainstorm in order to find out how much you already know about a topic. At the
end of this video you will be asked to practice this technique. To brainstorm, you think about a
topic and then write down as many ideas as you can about the topic. You write these ideas in a list
of words or short phrases no sentences. Whatever comes into your head while you're thinking about
this topic should be written down. And be sure to write down everything that comes into your head.
Don't edit, erase, or correct errors at this time. There's plenty of time to do that later.
Let's look at an example. First, write the topic at the top of the page. Then write down anything
you know about this topic. Don't be concerned if you don't see a connection with your idea
and the topic right away. For some reason you were thinking of the idea at this time so write
it down. Writing can be challenging so here's a few brainstorming notes to help you out. A wise
saying is "it doesn't exist until it's written down." You can have lots of wonderful ideas,
but until you commit those ideas to paper they are just that: ideas. Get them on paper as soon
as possible. Many novice writers are worried that once they put something on paper it must
be permanent. It can never change. But, the truth is, you want to use paper to help you
change and shape your ideas. Okay, it's time to practice. Choose either the topic you're currently
working on for your class or the topic from this learning object: winters in Wisconsin. Spend two
minutes generating ideas through brainstorming. Remember to relax, take your time, and use your
brainstorming notes. Ready to give it a try? Here's a timer to keep track of your two minutes.
A few final thoughts. Was this easy or difficult? If you were not able to come up with a lot of
ideas in this time limit you either were too worried about editing what you were writing,
you do not know a lot about the topic, or this technique may not be effective for you.
Keep in mind that you will more than likely be spending more than two minutes trying to
generate ideas when you're not working on this exercise. Depending on the complexity of your
writing project you may spend minutes, hours, or days trying to come up with ideas. So what's next?
You need to examine your list and see if there are enough ideas to work on for your writing project.
If there are enough ideas you can start to work with them to create a draft of your document. If
you need more ideas you may have to spend more time on this technique, try another technique,
or do research to find out more about the topic. Congratulations! You've completed:
Thinking about the topic: Brainstorming. If you want to see more videos like this,
subscribe to our channel. We'll notify you when we have something new for you to learn.