Brainstorming vs. Writing in Chunks

NOTE: A post for my English 101 students. But I liked it so much I'm going to share it here too.

So this week we're using two terms that are often confused: Brainstorming and writing in chunks.

Most of us are probably more familiar with brainstorming: Sitting there quietly (or loudly, per your individual preference) coming up with quick bursts of ideas. Whether you type them out on a computer keyboard or scribble them on paper, your typical brainstorming session probably goes something like this, but maybe with less shouting and fewer sideburns:

Brainstorming is where you quickly throw out on paper or on your screen as many ideas as you can think of. They don't have to be fully developed, but they should be specific.

If I were brainstorming ideas for what I'd write my personal essay about, my brainstorming session might come up with the following ideas:

1. When I heard the spirit shout "stop" when I was in the crosswalk

2. What was going through my mind as I watched my first child be born

3. How I felt in those first few moments after my firs auto accident (I still remember that ugly, ugly shirt I was wearing)

4. That day I passed out in the temple parking lot

And so on. You can see I'm not really offering a lot of detail, but I am being as specific as I can. Why be specific? Because if I brainstormed like this:

1. A mission experience

2. My first year at the University of Idaho

3. Getting married

the topics I've picked are so general when I sit down to write the essay, I have no idea where to start, where to end, and will probably come up with a pretty watery essay at the end. The more specific you are, the easier this assignment will be.

Now, let's move on to writing in chunks. And who better to teach us what writing in chunks looks like than Chunk from "The Goonies"

Chunk starts out brainstorming, but brainstorming well. He lists off a rapid-fire list of things he's done (any of which might make a fun personal essay). But when he gets to that incident in the movie theater, he starts writing in chunks. He offers more detail on one idea. It's not a good idea, but he can see the guys are warming to it.

So if I were writing in chunks as I was working on ideas for my personal essay, it might look like this:

I was headed home from the LDS Institute on campus late one night and when I was in a crosswalk on campus, I heard a voice shout "stop!" I stopped and immediately felt something brush the front of my jacket -- it was a car that had been stopped on the side of the road as I entered the crosswalk, but was suddenly there, running the stop sign, as I crossed.

Or

When I got out of the car, I felt all the blood rushing from my head. I figured I'd be okay after a few steps, but blood pressure medicine works in mysterious ways. I took two steps, then told my son "get ready to catch." He didn't catch me.

As I write in chunks, I begin to flesh out ideas from that brainstorming session. As I write, I remember more details, and I jot them down.

Brainstorming is like the spark plug in your engine that gets things started.

Writing in chunks is like shifting through the gears, getting faster and faster as you accelerate up the freeway.

Please try both experiences this week. Brainstorming starts you on the road. Writing in chunks lets you see which of those brainstormed ideas has the most memories attached to it, the most vivid imagery, and helps you get down that road. Try them both and grow some ideas in the garden of your mind.