Brainstorming is the Pregnancy of the Mind

When I was in high school, I took multiple courses on child development. When I got pregnant, I took even more classes on the topic. Even in college, I spent a lot of time devoted to the topic, as I was witnessing it unfold in front of me. I also took a creative writing class at the same time. I realized that writing has similarities to raising a child. One example of this is that the phases of brainstorming are comparable to the three trimesters of pregnancy.

While this may seem like a silly metaphor, in her book Story or die, Lisa Cron explains how story is an innate biological process (click the link to purchase a copy, it’s an excellent read). Since story is an evolutionary advantage we seem to have over other lifeforms, is it so far fetched to think that coming up with a story is similar to conceiving a child? You can decide for yourself.

In my last blog post, I touched on this phase. For a long time I thought that this is where brainstorming began and ended. Similar to how you think of a topic for an essay, research the topic, outline it, write it, and then edit & revise it. Writing essays is straightforward for me, unlike longer forms of writing. When it comes to creative writing, this is only the first of many phases of brainstorming you will encounter when expecting the bundle of joy (or misery, if that’s your cup of tea) that will be your story.

The conception phase can be as elusive, unexpected, or predetermined as a pregnancy would be. The hardest part of this phase is not knowing if it will take. For a pregnancy, it takes about a month (let’s keep things simple) after conception to have a positive pregnancy test, and when I have inspiration, I choose to sit on the idea for the same amount of time before I commit to it. The point of this phase is to determine if you have something important to say using the framework of your idea. If you’re sold on it before the month is over, great! Move ahead to the next phase! If not, I’m sorry but you need to try again.

Now that you have your story idea, you need to know who it’s about! Throw a gender reveal party in your mind! Imagine what this baby is going to grow up to be like! Spend time daydreaming about your character’s backstories, their motivations and goals, and what fatal flaws they carry with them. Mind you, creating a human being is a rather daunting task, so make it fun and dreamy. Morning sickness (or your inner critic) be damned!

The first trimester is the period of time during which the risk of miscarriage is at its highest. You might create characters you love, but that simply don’t fit this story. That’s ok! Some parents wanted boys but found that they love their daughters to the ends of the earth. Save any characters that won’t fit in the back of your mind (and a folder on your computer) for the next story, or the one after that! You will create a character that flows better with your current idea.

After the first month, you know you’ve got something cooking. And after the first trimester, things are starting to look promising. This is when you’d want to start outlining. There are a ton of different methods you could use, so I suggest trying a few out and seeing how you like them. I enjoy incorporating a version of Katytastic’s outlining method in my process. But a large part of outlining is (you guessed it) BRAINSTORMING!

This is entertainment central for me. Coming up with twists and turns that align with the characters in my books is something that is constantly on my mind from the moment of a story’s conception. This happens to be where I’m at in my current story, and it is a long trimester for me since I’m a plotter. If you think you’re a pantser, I urge you to give outlining at least a passing thought. If it’s not for you, I wish you Stephen King-esq success. Regardless, this phase will show up whether you’re planning ahead or on the spot.

Above, I am referring to the way babies develop from head to toe and from the inside to the outside. How I like to think of this in the context of a story, is that you must develop the main character’s internal conflicts first to make the external conflicts more compelling. And similarly, how stories have to be developed with a clear beginning, middle, and end, (mostly) in that order. Internal and external conflicts reflect developing Inside to outside, and beginning to end reflects head to toe development.

You’ve already painted the long strokes in your outline, but now you must develop the details. At times, this will require you to brainstorm. Yes, even if you’ve written scene cards. Dialogue, Symbols you will use, last minute changes to your predetermined course of events… all of this is born out of brainstorming. It is a never ending practice that you will use in every stage of writing a story, so practice early and often.

At this point, you’ve finished your first draft. Take a breather. Many successful Authors suggest getting space from your story after you’ve written it. This allows you to look at it with fresh eyes when you edit and revise. Christine Riccio of polandbananasbooks practices this as well and gives some really good reasons why. But this phase is not brainstorming, so moving on.

Brainstorming at this stage of the game would be in polishing the story, making adjustments, and possibly changing some plot points. I think this would be similar to gently guiding a child forward through life and giving them the tools they need to be successful. And when you’re done and you publish (or try to publish your work), Your baby is all grown up, out there in the world. But in your heart, It’ll always be your baby.

What do you think about the brainstorming process through the lens of pregnancy? Where are you at in the process?