David Here!

Hello! This is David Schmader, and very soon I’ll be at Queen Anne Writers Studio.

Icebreaker query: What do I mean by brainstorming?

To me, brainstorming is a catch-all term for the various ways of answering two questions: “Where do I start?” and “What do I do now?”

Sometimes it’s a matter of finding what it is you want to write about. Sometimes it’s a matter of having a story you want to tell and not being sure where to begin. Sometimes you’re in the middle of a piece of writing and not sure how to proceed.

Whatever the case, the questions “Where do I start?” and “What do I do now?” come up again and again, and the method of brainstorming I’ll be sharing is the best way I’ve found to answer those questions, whenever they arise, without going insane.

And I say that because “Where do I start?” is exactly the type of question that can tie me up in knots, because there’s no “right” answer. It’s not a math problem, it’s a creative question, which has to be decided by listening to your gut and heart, which can be challenging if not terrifying. The techniques we’ll be dealing with in class are designed to help navigate the part of writing that requires you to relinquish the need for the Right Answer and splash around in a sea of possibility, with a minimum of existential angst.

For full info and registration, go here.