Comments on: Bubble Brainstorming, an Illustrated Inspiration http://www.liravaughan.com/2009/04/27/bubble-brainstorming-an-illustrated-inspiration/ Making Sense with Creative Writing Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:00:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Lira http://www.liravaughan.com/2009/04/27/bubble-brainstorming-an-illustrated-inspiration/comment-page-1/#comment-31 Lira Thu, 07 May 2009 20:26:38 +0000 http://www.liravaughan.com/?p=325#comment-31 @jon I too prefer colored pencil & paper because you can make "crude" drawings. Plus, drawing is a great way to get your Daemon to shutup & get your Muse come out to play. So now that you have an awesome mindmap, you have to finish with steps 8-10. Get your analytical mind back on the playing field (your Daemon) and synthesize the details. Just make sure the Daemon & the Muse PLAY NICE. What you're looking for here isn't just organization, its also the epiphanies you find when you look at the random connections on your map. For example, if I saw a camel drawn next to books I might start to think about ancient Egyptian scholars, or long desert journeys, or making information easier to carry on a trip. Give your map a rest and then pull it back out when you feel your active subconscious is primed (as you've described from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316010669?ie=UTF8&tag=balaneleme-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0316010669" rel="nofollow">Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking</a>) The rest will come to you! @jon I too prefer colored pencil & paper because you can make “crude” drawings. Plus, drawing is a great way to get your Daemon to shutup & get your Muse come out to play.

So now that you have an awesome mindmap, you have to finish with steps 8-10. Get your analytical mind back on the playing field (your Daemon) and synthesize the details. Just make sure the Daemon & the Muse PLAY NICE.

What you’re looking for here isn’t just organization, its also the epiphanies you find when you look at the random connections on your map. For example, if I saw a camel drawn next to books I might start to think about ancient Egyptian scholars, or long desert journeys, or making information easier to carry on a trip.

Give your map a rest and then pull it back out when you feel your active subconscious is primed (as you’ve described from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking) The rest will come to you!

]]> By: Jon http://www.liravaughan.com/2009/04/27/bubble-brainstorming-an-illustrated-inspiration/comment-page-1/#comment-30 Jon Thu, 07 May 2009 19:45:34 +0000 http://www.liravaughan.com/?p=325#comment-30 Okay Lira - I took the instructions in your post and synthesized it with some of Kathy Sierra's advice (have you checked out her site yet?) and created my first bubble brainstormed mind map... by hand. The problem with the mind-map software is that it is just not graphic enough. I would love to show you what I created but my company wouldn't be too happy. So let me tell you. In addition to bubbles, arrows, and plenty of text on the paper, there are crudely drawn illustrations of books, a camel, bundles of straw, binoculars, a rotary telephone, planets in orbit around the sun and a cup of coffee. All for a business challenge! That just can't be done with software and be in the same state of mind. The individual illustrations are quite crappy, but collectively it makes for an interesting illustration. It needs to be crude. It begs to be crude. So, what does it do? According to a book I'm reading on Kindle http://www.amazon.com/Blink-Power-Thinking-Without/dp/0316172324 I am already priming my active subconscious to bring about the vision I just mind-mapped. Whew! Okay Lira – I took the instructions in your post and synthesized it with some of Kathy Sierra’s advice (have you checked out her site yet?) and created my first bubble brainstormed mind map… by hand.

The problem with the mind-map software is that it is just not graphic enough. I would love to show you what I created but my company wouldn’t be too happy. So let me tell you. In addition to bubbles, arrows, and plenty of text on the paper, there are crudely drawn illustrations of books, a camel, bundles of straw, binoculars, a rotary telephone, planets in orbit around the sun and a cup of coffee. All for a business challenge! That just can’t be done with software and be in the same state of mind.

The individual illustrations are quite crappy, but collectively it makes for an interesting illustration. It needs to be crude. It begs to be crude.

So, what does it do? According to a book I’m reading on Kindle http://www.amazon.com/Blink-Power-Thinking-Without/dp/0316172324 I am already priming my active subconscious to bring about the vision I just mind-mapped.

Whew!

]]> By: Lira http://www.liravaughan.com/2009/04/27/bubble-brainstorming-an-illustrated-inspiration/comment-page-1/#comment-21 Lira Sat, 02 May 2009 00:21:00 +0000 http://www.liravaughan.com/?p=325#comment-21 @Jon: I haven't heard of Kathy yet, but the site looks very interesting. I'm sorry she is no longer blogging, but I'll definitely give her books & any seminars a longer look. Thanks! @Jon: I haven’t heard of Kathy yet, but the site looks very interesting. I’m sorry she is no longer blogging, but I’ll definitely give her books & any seminars a longer look. Thanks!

]]> By: Jon http://www.liravaughan.com/2009/04/27/bubble-brainstorming-an-illustrated-inspiration/comment-page-1/#comment-20 Jon Fri, 01 May 2009 22:56:53 +0000 http://www.liravaughan.com/?p=325#comment-20 @Lira: Thanks for the Cayra tip. Color is definitely a value-add, I agree with you. I'll check it out (especially since its free!) I haven't fully adopted FreeMind yet... Listen, I should have posted this on my last comment. I want to give you the blog address of someone who lives in kinda/sorta the same space as you (creativity and the way the mind works). Perhaps you've heard of her, Kathy Sierra? Actually, she doesn't blog anymore - some nut case scared her away. She's still around the industry though, slowly coming back to the speaking circuit. She has left her blog archive up. She's also co-published several tech books. You might want to check out her blog when doing research on your own stuff. Kathy rocks, has the respect of a lot of giants in my industry. *Kathy Sierra: http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/ @Lira:
Thanks for the Cayra tip. Color is definitely a value-add, I agree with you. I’ll check it out (especially since its free!) I haven’t fully adopted FreeMind yet…

Listen, I should have posted this on my last comment. I want to give you the blog address of someone who lives in kinda/sorta the same space as you (creativity and the way the mind works). Perhaps you’ve heard of her, Kathy Sierra? Actually, she doesn’t blog anymore – some nut case scared her away. She’s still around the industry though, slowly coming back to the speaking circuit. She has left her blog archive up. She’s also co-published several tech books. You might want to check out her blog when doing research on your own stuff. Kathy rocks, has the respect of a lot of giants in my industry.

*Kathy Sierra: http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/

]]> By: Lira http://www.liravaughan.com/2009/04/27/bubble-brainstorming-an-illustrated-inspiration/comment-page-1/#comment-16 Lira Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:25:04 +0000 http://www.liravaughan.com/?p=325#comment-16 @Jon: I remember you. You had great Kindle advice! Thanks for visiting my blog. I've looked at the FreeMind software. Its pretty good. I actually prefer a software called Cayra* though. For me, Cayra is better at bringing out my Muse than the FreeMind software because its more colorful and organic. But pen & paper is the best so far. Getting that analytical Daemon to be quiet can be a chore. Please let me know how the transition goes. :) *Cayra http://cayra.en.softonic.com/ @Jon:
I remember you. You had great Kindle advice! Thanks for visiting my blog.
I’ve looked at the FreeMind software. Its pretty good. I actually prefer a software called Cayra* though. For me, Cayra is better at bringing out my Muse than the FreeMind software because its more colorful and organic. But pen & paper is the best so far.

Getting that analytical Daemon to be quiet can be a chore. Please let me know how the transition goes. :)

*Cayra http://cayra.en.softonic.com/

]]> By: Jon http://www.liravaughan.com/2009/04/27/bubble-brainstorming-an-illustrated-inspiration/comment-page-1/#comment-15 Jon Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:36:35 +0000 http://www.liravaughan.com/?p=325#comment-15 Interesting that you should post about this. I downloaded an open-source application* to do the same thing using mind-maps. Good for brainstorming (as you said), I was going to try it as a completely new way to take notes. Normally my brain works in outline form, so it's going to take some getting used to. By the way, I was the guy with the Kindle sitting next to you at the LATFOB Science panel. I found your url in my notes and thought I'd check it out. *FreeMind. http://freemind.sourceforge.net Interesting that you should post about this. I downloaded an open-source application* to do the same thing using mind-maps. Good for brainstorming (as you said), I was going to try it as a completely new way to take notes. Normally my brain works in outline form, so it’s going to take some getting used to.

By the way, I was the guy with the Kindle sitting next to you at the LATFOB Science panel. I found your url in my notes and thought I’d check it out.

*FreeMind. http://freemind.sourceforge.net

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