#444 Expert Edition - Harness the Power of Prewriting and Brainstorming

Welcome to Kingdom Writers where we help equip and empower Christian writers of all genres to share your unique gifts with the world. We're your hosts, C.J. and Shelley Hitz.

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Welcome back friends to the Kingdom Writers Podcast. My name is Shelly Hitz, one of your hosts and I'm excited to introduce to you some of my colleagues that are experts in writing, publishing and marketing in these expert edition podcasts. And I think you're going to really enjoy these episodes. So I'm going to let them introduce themselves and share this training with you and I hope you get a ton of value out out of it. So let's dive in.

Hello writer friends. I am so excited to be here today and share a little bit about how we can harness the power of pre writing and brainstorming. But first let me share a little bit about me. My name is Stephanie Miller, I am a best selling author, a speaker and a certified spiritual growth coach and writing coach. I'm the founder of Butterfly Beginnings Coaching LLC where I help aspiring and aspiring writers and faith filled writers, people who are already published continue to live out their message and share their story and write their message with clarity, consistency and confidence. I have taught several workshops, I've spoke at several conferences as well as led retreats all surrounding the importance of realizing that God is the One who is creating and writing through us us as we share our message and story.

I am a multi published author. My book the Butterfly Blueprint how to Renew your Mind and Grow youw Faith was published in 2020 and that looks at spiritual growth and transformation using the metaphor of a butterfly. And I also have been featured as a co author in several anthologies. On the personal side, I am a wife, been married about 12 years and also a mom to three Littles ages 7, 5 and 2 and we live outside of Nashville, Tennessee also with our two Golden Doodles. So now that you've painted a little bit of a picture about me and a little bit about how I can share all of the things that we're going to focus on today with pre writing and brainstorming, I am going to take a moment to break all of the rules. And what I mean by that is I'm actually going to begin with the end. I'm going to go ahead and tell you the top two takeaways that I want you to have at the end of this episode because I really want you to use these as the lens in which you see all of the other ideas and all the other things I'm going to suggest throughout the rest of this episode.

So takeaway number one, this is the perspective shift, this mindset adjustment that we need to make in order to really be able to harness the power of pre writing and brainstorming, which by the way, I think as writers we are so inclined to want to skip this part and also just move through it quickly. And so really we need to focus on this idea of there is power in the pre writing and the brainstorming process. And one way we do that is by giving ourselves permission actually to go back in that process. So takeaway number one is all about how the writing process is not linear. And what I mean by that is there is no one size fits all, all. There is no straight path. You do not go directly from a brainstorming to a pre writing, to a first draft to a polished draft, to editing and revision and publishing. It doesn't always work like that. So right away I want to give you permission. If you're feeling a little bit stressed, if you've been working on an outline or you've been working on kind of just jotting down general ideas for a book or a project or a story that you're working on and you might be feeling like you need to go back to the drawing board, I want to encourage you that that actually is a really great place to be. Because once we can understand and embrace this idea that the writing process is not linear, sometimes we go back and forth and our ideas are going to shift and they're going to adjust and they're going to be refined in our sitting down and being obedient and asking God what He wants us to write, that we're also going to be able to really latch onto the second takeaway, which is that the writing of the pre writing and the brainstorming and that initial setting, the foundation process is not about hurrying up and getting it done and focused on the outcome, but it's really about being able to embrace the creativity, embrace the creative expression, expression and embrace that curiosity and that discovery process that God is bringing to our attention in that initial brainstorm pre writing. And so we are in a constant state, especially those of us who are writers and writing consistently. We're in a constant state of information gathering. And so I think it is really important for us to understand that some of the information that we're receiving and how we learn how to implement it, to set a foundation for our pre writing and brainstorming process ultimately depends on how well we are willing to write. Not what we think we should write, but what God is asking us to write. And so one of the best ways that we can harness this idea of how we make the most of before we start working on a book, what does that look like? And so the first way is committing to a consistent journaling practice. Now, if we were in person, I would ask you, okay, raise your hand if you are a consistent journaler, or maybe you journal occasionally, or maybe you could raise your hand and say, why are you using journal as a verb? But the idea is, is that when we are consistent in a journaling process and have a journaling practice, it allows us to just get all of the stuff that is in our mind and our head and our thoughts that is inhibiting our creativity. Maybe it could be an argument you had with your spouse or your kids, or maybe it could just be your task list or something else that you are fixated on. But when we're able to get these thoughts and these ideas out on paper, it frees up our creative capacity, so then we can be more creative and we can also pursue creativity in other areas and in other ways. And so this idea that I just mentioned is actually called the morning pages, first determined by Julia Cameron in her book the Artist Way. So I don't know if any of you listening are familiar with that book, but it is first pha nominal. So I would make sure that I'll include a link to that book as well. But she talks a lot about morning pages as a way to get rid of all of the stuff that is hindering our ability to actually focus on our creativity. And so, again, one of the most beautiful things about morning pages is not only that we're able to get all of the buzzing noise that's in our head out so we can focus on more creative things. But we're also able to see, over time, deeper meaning, richer insight, these takeaways, and these understanding that God does reveal to us as we continue to commit to showing up and writing whatever we feel that God is asking us to write, not judging. And this is hard for us, but not judging what we're writing, but just honestly and authentically just getting it out, just getting the words on the page. And once we're able to engage in this consistent journaling, where it is a stream of consciousness writing, I've also heard it being called that as well as a brain dump. So just processing everything on paper, we can continue to really live out this idea that it is not up to us for us to manufacture the right words, the right thoughts, the right messages. But it is ultimately God using us and it's his words that we are writing out. His words become the words that are placed on the page.

So a second way that we can harness the power of pre writing and brainstorming. And this is going to be for those of you listening that are familiar with the term mind map. Maybe you used a mind map or you use a mind map in your brainstorming and your pre writing process and then those also of you who are using the free writing. So again, kind of going back to that initial writing, whatever comes to mind. A lot of the writers that I work with at this stage kind of starting to gather ideas and generate them into what has actual content is that we have a tendency to kind of pick and choose. I'm only going to free write and then I'm going to move right from that into a first draft or I'm only going to use a mind map or a web diagram. You know, I've heard it being called that too. And then I'm going to move into the outline or the first draft and but I want to actually have you consider is that the idea of the mind map, the idea of the categorization into larger topics or areas or thoughts or feelings is helpful.

And the ability to free write and just process out in on your paper whatever comes to mind is equally as helpful. And both of them can be used together. So let me give you a quick example of what I mean. Let's say you have a lot of photos on your Google Drive or your Dropbox and you need to get them off of your Google Drive or Dropbox. And so we're going to have two camps of people here. Camp number one, you are going to have already made folders for your photos that you are getting off of the drive. And so you are going to not think too much about it when you move those pictures to those folders because you've already pre made the categories. But camp number two, you're going to take a different approach. You're actually going to take the photo and you're going to pull it up and you're going to study it and you're going to look at it and then you're going to pull up another photo next to it and then you're going to study it and look at it and from there you might note some commonalities or some similar threads throughout those photos and then wait to create the categories and the folder names until after you have seen all of the pictures in its entirety. And so the beautiful thing about being able to use the free writing and the mind mapping together is that it gives us the opportunity to use the folders, the categorized folders, as those main themes, those takeaways, and those transformational components, which I'll get into here in a little bit. But it also gives us the ability to play around with color. You know, I. In person, workshop, I say, all right, let's get out our crayons, our markers, our colored pencils, and let's get creative here. Let's start using color, let's start using symbols, and let's start using pictures. Because so much research has been done on the benefit of being able to. To use both sides of our brain, right? That creative side and that logic side. So remember I said, once you get all of the stuff on the one side of your brain out of your head onto paper, it frees up that creative capacity. And so from that creative capacity, how great would it be for us to be able to utilize that play side of our brain, the curiosity side of our brain, and that discovery part of our brain. And so capitalizing on that leads me to the third point I want to make on kind of really harnessing the pre writing and brainstorming and enjoying the pre writing and the brainstorming. And that is one of my favorite things, to be able to use different pictures and different illustrations in order to share and organize your ideas in a visible, tangible, relatable way. And so specifically, I'm talking metaphors, I'm talking analogies, I'm talking just visual pictures and images that you can give greater meaning and greater understanding to something seemingly abstract. But to be able to provide a concrete example or a different comparison really helps enrich and solidify the point you're trying to make. I think there's definitely a reason that Jesus used parables in his descriptions and in his conversation with people, right? We're just wired to have this understanding of visual pictures and visual illustrations. So I actually attended a silent retreat about a year ago now. And during that retreat, God was so faithful to reveal so much to me. But what I remember so vividly is this picture. And I will do my best to describe it here. But it definitely would hit differently if you were reading this on a piece of paper. But what I remember so vividly is this picture of me having a cup. And I'm holding a cup, it's empty, and there is a cup coming down from the sky above me, which ultimately, of Course, is God filling my cup, right? He is pouring into me. And the picture that became so powerful to me at that moment is instead of me having to take what he is pouring in my cup and go and pour it in the other areas of my life that I wear different hats and have different responsibilities, like being a wife and a mom and a coach and a speaker.

It was that he was pouring into me. And then out of the overflow, out of the overflow of what he first is doing in me and what he first is pouring in me, then that was what was filling up the other cups, the other roles and the other callings and hats that I wear. And so just a visual illustration like that can be so powerful, especially as we start to just get into the. How can I make this more relatable to the reader? And then, of course, a metaphor is a great example. The book that I mentioned earlier, the Butterfly Blueprint, that is of course based on looking at our spiritual growth and transformation from the life cycle of a butterfly. So what it looks like to be an egg, spiritually a caterpillar, spiritually in the chrysalis, spiritually all the way up to what it looks like to live transformed as beautiful butterflies in Christ. And so metaphors in and of themselves can be very powerful either to structure a whole book like that example, or even just give different examples and ideas for smaller points that you might be making. So figurative language in and of itself is very, very powerful to help give additional meaning and enhance and enrich the understanding of these ideas.

And at this point now, as we look to harness pre writing and brainstorming, I'm sure some of you might be thinking, okay, when is the outline coming? And so the thing with the outline is, is I love an outline, but I also don't love an outline. And so let me tell you why.

If we stick too closely to a rigid outline, and by that I mean an outline that we made at the very beginning of our pre writing and our brainstorming. And it is very specific. Maybe it even has the Roman numerals, the letters and the numbers. But if we stick too closely to that, I think it does two things. I think number one, it actually inhibits our creativity, right? If we're sticking too closely to it, it inhibits our ability to think beyond that because we've already placed our story, our messages and our words in a box. But more importantly, number two, I think it actually inhibits God's ability to move through us and work in us and allow it be his words that we Write and his story and his message that we place on the page. And so while structure is extremely important and having some parameters and some guidelines, I think there also needs to be plenty of room for flexibility.

And so an alternative that I propose and I use with my clients is actually something I call a transformation tail or a book sketch. And so when we use a transformation tail or a book sketch, we're actually outlining different things. Not what we want to say as the writer, not what we think the readers need to hear, but we're actually focused on what they do need to hear. So not what we want to say, but what they need to hear. And so the perspective becomes not, oh, this is really good. I want to make sure to include it in the book and from the outline.

But.

But it's more about. This is a key point and a key factor that will incite transformation from the beginning of the book to the end of the book and of course, the transformation tail. Just a brief overview. You have these three blocks, if you will. Block number one for the transformation tale is you're looking at your initial state. So specifically it's going to look different depending on what genre. So your initial state would be your initial state if it is a metaphor or memoir, if it is your story. And it would be your reader's initial state if you're looking at more of a nonfiction, self help style book. And then of course, it's your protagonist, your main character's initial state, if it is a fiction book. And the idea here is that you can actually get down into what am I, the reader or the main character? What are they thinking, what are they feeling, what are they experiencing? What are those key factors and those key I statements that they're believing about themselves at the beginning of the book. And then I actually always like to skip that middle block. Don't worry, we'll go back to it and move to the third block. And so that becomes a very good place to contrast. To contrast that I statement that the reader might be thinking at the beginning of the book to how their I statement has shifted or transformed at the end of the book. Ultimately, using the book sketch or the transformation tale allows it to be about what the reader really needs to read and understand.

To incite the transformation and to experience their own transformation as they go throughout the book. So then the middle point, then the middle block becomes what needs to happen. So this could be thoughts, this could be experiences, this could be events, this could be perspective shifts, anything that needs to happen that moves the initial state. So Point A to point Z and then all that stuff in between.

And so of course it's a little bit challenging for me to be explaining it over audio, but I would love to invite you to find me on Instagram. Ephanimillercoach one word and send me a DM and just write the word transformation tale and I will send you an actual transformation tale for you to fill out and complete on your own. I also include an example of a filled out transformation tail so you get a better idea and an overall general sense of how you can really start to use this transformation tail to start to shape and give some, some structure to your, your book or your writing or your ideas without adhering too closely to a rigid structure. And so I would love to send that to you. If you find me on Instagram and just put transformation tail in a dm, I will send it over your way. And of course if you are not on Instagram, no worries. Feel free to email me stephanie@butterfly-bEGINNINGS.com and I know that'll be listed here on the episode notes somewhere, but feel free to email me and send me the subject transformation tale and I'll send that over to you too. I just really love having a starting point where we can give some structure to kind of get those, those guidelines and those fences, if you will, that we need to put in place, but not too much that we are actually inhibiting the message, the idea, the words that God wants us to write and share.

And so there's no, for this last point I want to make, there's no real way for me to smoothly make a transition here. So I'm just gonna say it. One of the other ways we can harness the use of the power of pre writing and brainstorming is actually by using AI, including the use of chat GPT. And so, so many of us, I'm sure, have different opinions and different, you know, uses for a chat GPT or AI already. But I just want to share a little bit about how I've seen AI or ChatGPT become helpful in the pre WR brainstorming process. So for example, for this message right here that you're listening to, thanks for hanging in by the way. I actually started by free writing out everything I wanted to say. So I took that free write approach where I wrote out everything I wanted to say initially on this topic first. And actually here's a side note, maybe a bonus tip. I didn't even pre write it. I voice to text it. And so I used the software on my computer where I just spoke into the computer and then it just started typing out the words for me. So that's another bonus step. But from there I copied that information and I put it into Chat GPT and I asked it to actually just summarize, summarize these points. Can you bullet point the main ideas or the takeaways or the key themes that you are reading? And so I love to use AI and like ChatGPT for this summarization tool, because how many times as writers are we writing one thing and we're really, really sure that what we are writing as the main point and what we want to be the main point is exactly what's coming across, but then someone else reads it and maybe they get confused or maybe they pull out a different idea. And so the idea with using, or the goal of using Chat GPT as a summarization tool is that it becomes an option and an opportunity for us to check am I, am I hitting the mark, Am I hitting the target, or am I missing it by the words we're using or what we're emphasizing? And so I love to use ChatGPT as that type of tool to summarize in what, what is coming across. The main idea that's coming across. The second way I like to use ChatGPT is to ask it for different examples, different metaphors, different illustrations. Remember how I told you that there is so much power in using the, the visual images and those ideas and metaphors and analogies and so to be able to come up with a, a concept, maybe it's a theological concept or something that isn't tangible, and ask it for some examples to make it relatable. And so just a real quick example here.

I use a metaphor or an analogy of a lamp stand to share about how I feel that we are supposed to show up on social media.

Especially as Christian writers and Christian content creators, and that is that we have that lamp stand and that we are shining our light. We're not going to run around and we're not going to chase people and we're not going to say, hey, like me, find me, read my stuff, and you need to do that. But we literally just shine the light that God has given us. So we shine that message that God has given us and that he's placed inside of us. And we share it openly with others, trusting and knowing that he is going to bring the right people at the right time who need exactly what we are offering. And so that's just an example of how we can take a more.

Abstract idea and make it a little more relatable to an object or a symbol. And so things like that can definitely be something that ChatGPT or AI can help us with.

Ultimately.

The goal is to enjoy this process. And so in order to harness the power of pre writing and brainstorming, we need to be able to enjoy this process. But sometimes there are things that are holding us back from even taking a step to engaging in this. So maybe you're listening and you want to write, but you just feel like something is stopping you. Or every time you go to sit down to write, you're experiencing all of these negative thoughts, all of these thoughts of what do I think I am doing trying to write this? Who am I kidding? This is a joke. Maybe you're thinking it's not going to be good enough. Or maybe you're thinking if you don't have five hours at a time to work on writing, that you shouldn't write. And so for that, I actually want to offer you another resource that I have created. And it's called how to Use Faith Based Frameworks to Make Real Writing Progress. Yes, I know that's quite a mouthful, but what I'm doing in this guide is I'm helping you determine what are those negative thoughts? What are those false beliefs that we are believing about ourselves, our identity as writers, and even about the writing process itself. What are those things that are holding us back from being able to step fully and freely into our calling as writers? And so in that resource I give several examples, some worksheets, exercises, and also some reflection questions to have you dig a little bit deeper so you can start to uproot those lies that you have believed that are hindering your ability to move forward and to make progress in your writing. And so I know that that's going to be in the episode note as well, but that website address is Butterfly Beginnings. Butterfly-excuse me, butterfly-bunnynings.com freebie. And so from there you'll be able to pick up that guide to help you identify those false beliefs and and those negative thoughts that are holding you back from being able to move forward even into that pre writing and that brainstorming process. And so, friends, as we wrap up today, I just want to thank you again for taking the time to listen to this episode. I hope and pray that it was encouraging to you and for you. And first and foremost, I just want to remind you that you are called to do this, that God does not call the equipped, he equips the called. And you are called to write and share your God given message and your story. Remember that the writing process, not just the pre writing and the brainstorming, but the whole writing process, is not about the outcome but it is about the process. It is about engaging and enjoying in what God is doing in you as you sit down to share and write the message and the story that he's given you. And so if you've connected with me and you've resonated with this information today, I invite you to find me on social media. So find me on Instagram or Facebook at Stephanie Miller Coach is the username and let me know. I would love to know what resonated most with you, what you want to try or or even if you have questions about the transformation tale or you want to kind of talk through your particular project as well, I would love to do that. If you're interested in the services that I offer, the the coaching, the editing, and just having someone to encourage you on the writing journey, I would love to just share some encouragement and some additional resources with you. So please, please please find me and let me know. And of course if you have a fellow writer friend that would be interested and benefit from this, and you think they would benefit from being able to learn how to harness the power of pre writing and brainstorming, I would encourage you to share this episode with them too. So thank you friends again for listening and taking the time. And I hope and pray that you are able to harness the power of pre writing and brainstorming as you continue to live out the calling of being a writer that God has for you. So take care. Until next time, remember to live and write transformed as new creations in Christ.

If you're ready to take a step of faith and finally finish your book, we have a few ways we can help you. First of all, you can join our free Writing Week challenge to create a writing habit in just 515 minutes a day. Thousands of writers have taken this over the years and it is incredible the progress that you'll see. So join us@writingweek.com and again, this is completely free. Inside our Book Writing Lab workshop, you can choose your book topic, write an outline, and create a writing plan in just 90 minutes so you'll finally feel confident that you'll actually finish your book. Get started@bookwritinglab.com and finally, you can get more support and personalized feedback from myself and our team by joining Christian Book Academy. Because the honest truth is most writers stay stuck and never finish their first draft. But inside Christian Book Academy, we help you partner with God to write your book so you can become a published author. So finally ditch your self doubt and take a step of faith so you can finish your book. Join Christian book academy@christianbookacademy.com and get 50% off your first month by using the Coupon Code Podcast at checkout. There's a special coupon code for our podcast listeners. We love you. So come over to ChristianBookAcademy.com, use the coupon Code podcast and we look forward to working closely with you. Would you like more? If you are enjoying this podcast but want more, I have something exciting to share with you. We have released what's called a private podcast. So a private podcast you will not find by searching an apple. You have to know specifically how to subscribe to it. It's more private and exclusive and it just can be more relaxed behind the scenes. And my new private podcast is called Hits Blitz and it's wisdom for writers that you're going to learn from my 18 plus years of experience in publishing and online marketing so that you can move forward in God's call to write. I am best known for injecting energy and enthusiasm into everything I do and inspiring those around me to take action. So I encourage you to listen in to this exclusive private podcast. It is free. Free, 100% free. You don't have to pay for it and be prepared to be inspired by my next Hits Blitz so you can sign up at trainingauthors.com forward/hits blitz and if you have any other writing friends that you think could benefit from it, definitely share it with them. They can go to the same link trainingauthors.com hits blitz to get access to. Again, this is a private podcast so you cannot get access to it any other way. It's completely free. All you have to do is sign up and then you'll get all the information on how to add it to your podcast player of choice. So I can't wait for you to join me over there. I share a lot of things behind the scenes and more content just in a real time basis. So it's more like chatting with a friend or following someone on stories on social media. Except you don't have to get caught up in any of the algorithms and you'll just have this in your podcast player and be able to listen in wherever you're at, whatever you're doing. Some of the listeners told me this week that they were listening while waiting in the Target parking lot while brushing their teeth. You can fit this into the pockets of time that you have, so I hope you'll join me. Come over to trainingauthors.com hitsblitz.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Kingdom Writers. We believe that you, as a Christian writer, have a specific role to play in the Kingdom of Heaven to impact lives for eternity.

And because of this, we choose to pour out our lives into encouraging writers like you to not only tell your stories, but to take the courageous step of self publishing your stories in books that will outlive you and leave behind a powerful legacy. This podcast is sponsored by Christian Book Academy where we help you give birth to your books. We invite you to join our community of Kingdom Writers.