Sometimes, getting started is the most difficult part of writing. Facing that blank page and thinking you have to fill it with something profound can be daunting.

But I have a solution for you. Brainstorming. Brainstorming a story is like warming up before exercising because it stretches our creativity and stimulates our memory. We also don’t feel like what we write has to be great, or even good.

We have many ways to brainstorm–listing, clustering or mind-mapping, freewriting, answering who, what, when, where, why, how, and so forth.

Watch this lesson on how to cluster and learn a helpful way to brainstorm your firsts in preparation for the writing you’ll do during the Five-Day Writing Challenge. Brainstorming is part of prewriting and is as important as writing. It will set you up for productive writing sessions. Give it a try!