Inventing Ideas & Prewriting

Prewriting

visual and verbal strategies to record ideas in order to assess them

Brainstorming

listing ideas

Concept map - generating ideas and creating connections

clustering ideas by type

mapping software: Compendium, Free Mind, Connected Mind, MindMeister, and VUE

Heuristics

strategies used for discovery

Asking questions, such as the journalist's questions: Who, what, when, where, why, and how.

Exploratory Writing

reflective writing used to aid understanding

Freewriting: Writing without stopping, then reviewing for key ideas.