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The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Creativity » Page 7

Creativity

Brainstorming Made Easy (Part Two)

By Karen Ballon September 11, 2013
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Creative Workgroup in a Meeting

Okay, now that we covered the ground rules, let’s get brainstorming.

I realize not everyone can do the whole trip and retreat bit, but that’s okay. You can do what we do and make a retreat out of it, or you can get together online. With all the wonderful video calling programs out there, you can meet “face to face” without leaving home. For our brainstorming sessions, we gather from Thursday to Sunday. Each person gets 90-minute session, during which we’re all focused on that person’s stated needs. Here’s how we do it:

One person is the designated timekeeper. That person gives warnings when we have a half hour left, and when we have 15 minutes left.

Start each day with a devotion. It never ceases to amaze me how these 10-minute devos set us on the right path as we jump in.

We record our sessions. You can do this with your smart phone, a camera, a video camera, a tape recorder…whatever works best. But it’s amazing how freeing it is to know you don’t have to take notes during the session.

At the beginning of your session, share what you have of your story. We’ve shared as much as a pretty solid outline and as little as “This is my setting, these are my characters, the story is a romance. Go!”

If you want something specific from the brainstorming team, then tell them that up front. Are you looking for the group to help you build the whole story? Are you looking for specific scenes focusing on certain events or interactions?  Are you looking for ways to get your hero and heroine together? Whatever you need, say so. The best way to get what you want is to be as specific as possible.

Consider leaving 10 minutes at the end of your session for everyone to write a “List of 10.” This is a list of ideas they’ve had during the discussion, whether about scenes or character traits or something else, or of ideas that are sparked as the session ends. You can ask for the lists to focus on a specific need, or just let your brainstorming buddies write what strikes ‘em.

If you’re together in person, be sure you’ve got plenty of coffee, tea, water, chocolate…whatever fuel folks need to be creative!

Be sure have schedule in breaks so people can rest their brains and come back to the table refreshed and ready to go.

Everyone pay attention to the person’s stated needs. If you feel those needs haven’t been met, draw the group’s attention back to those needs. Also, it’s a good idea, about 15 minutes from the end, to ask the person, “Do you have what you need? Is there anything else you need from us?”

Clearly, this isn’t a comprehensive “how-to,” but my hope is that these tips will trigger ideas for you as you enter into this amazing realm of brainstorming.

Most important tip of all: Have fun! Enter into this time with a spirit of service and creativity, and get ready to see how the Spirit will take over.

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Category: Career, Communication, Creativity, Karen, Writing CraftTag: brainstorming, Creativity, Writing Craft

Brainstorming: The Ground Rules (Part Two)

By Karen Ballon September 4, 2013
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Are you getting excited about brainstorming? I really hope so. There is so much to be gained from surrounding yourself with other writers ready and willing to share their creativity with you. And from being willing yourself to share with others. Writing doesn’t have to be a solitary task. Knowing you have a group of writers rooting for you, excited about and praying for your project as you’re …

Read moreBrainstorming: The Ground Rules (Part Two)
Category: Book Business, Career, Creativity, Karen, Writing CraftTag: brainstorming, Career, Creativity, Writing Craft

Brainstorming: The Ground Rules

By Karen Ballon August 21, 2013
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Thanks for your thoughts and comments last week. Loved seeing your excitement about getting into a brainstorming group. It really can be a blessing unlike any other. So how do you go about getting started? Well, first, let’s take a look at the ground rules for effective brainstorming. There are several of them, so this week we’ll consider the first three:

1. Steep your sessions in …

Read moreBrainstorming: The Ground Rules
Category: Career, Craft, Creativity, Karen, Writing CraftTag: brainstorming, Creativity, Writing Craft

Preach it! (or Not)

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon August 15, 2013
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Last summer my family and I flew to South Korea and back so we needed to fill several hours with entertainment. Korean Air provides a selection of movies, so I decided to view "Gentleman's Agreement" since I'd never seen this classic film.

I knew the story addressed the evils of anti-semitism. Of course, I am opposed to anti-semitism so I have no problem with a story coming from this viewpoint. …

Read morePreach it! (or Not)
Category: Craft, Creativity, Editing, Tamela, Writing CraftTag: Craft, Creativity, Preaching, Writing Craft

Brainstorming Made Easy (Part One)

By Karen Ballon August 14, 2013
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A couple weeks ago I boarded a plane headed north to Idaho for a trip I've taken 9 times. At the end of that flight waited a group of women--Brandilyn Collins, Robin Lee Hatcher, Sunni Jeffers, Tricia Goyer, Tamera Alexander, Janet Ulbright, Sharon Dunn, Gayle DeSalles, Francine Rivers, and Mama Ruth (Brandilyn’s mom)--who have become so much a part of me that I can’t imagine life without them. …

Read moreBrainstorming Made Easy (Part One)
Category: Career, Creativity, Karen, Writing CraftTag: brainstorming, Creativity, Writing Craft

Looking for a Brown Mule

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon May 2, 2013
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I am beyond proud of my uncle, Eldridge Bagley.

Uncle Eldridge is a professional artist. He paints in oil on canvas. Most of his scenes depict Southern rural life in the mid twentieth century. The picture above, from 2001, is entitled Looking for a Brown Mule. 

This picture speaks to me. Does it speak to you? Why? Why do you think he chose that title?

Now let's have some fun. Use your …

Read moreLooking for a Brown Mule
Category: Art, Creativity, Tamela, Writing CraftTag: Characters, Creativity, Writing Craft

Who Lives on Your Desk?

By Karen Ballon October 10, 2012
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Have you ever wondered what books are sitting on your editor’s desk? What titles fellow writers refer to over and over? What new gems your agent has discovered? Well, I thought I’d share some of my tried-and-true “friends” with you, along with some that I’m just getting to know.

First, let me confess that my desk is a disaster. At least, that’s how it looks to anyone who comes in. Books and …

Read moreWho Lives on Your Desk?
Category: Craft, Creativity, Karen, Writing CraftTag: Craft, Creativity, Writing Craft

In Search of Ideas

By Karen Ballon July 25, 2012
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Authors, I’m guessing you’ve heard this question over and over: “Where do you get your ideas?” I know I’ve heard it more times than I can count. Now, if you’re like most writers I know, ideas for possible stories come fast and furious—most of the time. But what to do when you feel as though the idea well has run dusty and dry?

Well! Let me share a few standards that I, and other authors I know, …

Read moreIn Search of Ideas
Category: Creativity, Karen, Trends, Writing CraftTag: Creativity, Ideas

A Little Less Shade, A Little More Light

By Steve Laubeon July 2, 2012
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by Steve Laube

There could not be a better argument for the need for good Christian romantic fiction than the recent sales phenomenon of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. In case you aren't aware, this trilogy has sold ten million copies in the last three months. Ten million copies. The content of these novels should be x-rated and yet sit atop every bestseller list in the country. The …

Read moreA Little Less Shade, A Little More Light
Category: Craft, Creativity, Genre, Get Published, Romance, Steve, Writing CraftTag: Christian, Creativity, Genre, Romance

Are You a Storybird?

By Karen Ballon April 11, 2012
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I’m always hearing about authors who get stuck. Whose creativity has hit a wall. Who have hit a point in the story that they’ve lost interest.

Or there are the down times. When emotions have them hogtied. They’re too sad or depressed or frustrated or overwhelmed to write.

Well, I don’t have a cure for all of those things, but I do have something that can help. It’s called Storybird, and it’s …

Read moreAre You a Storybird?
Category: Craft, Creativity, Karen, Personal, Writing CraftTag: Creativity, Writing Craft
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