What is Clustering?
Clustering is a tool used in brainstorming, a method of setting out spontaneous insights and associations regarding a certain topic in graphic form. It has proven to be a valuable way of identifying initial ideas and motivations for writing. A lot of the information people absorb is processed as images, so it can’t be accessed directly by thinking in words. Clustering helps tap into these kinds of information and memories. Intuitive associations between ideas and internal connections are expressed spontaneously in this method. At the same time, initial structures emerge automatically.
How it works:
Clustering starts with a blank piece of paper. Write the term you want to explore in the middle of the paper. It might be a word relating to your topic or the actual topic you want to write about.
Now draw a circle around the term. Focus on this keyword. Close your eyes for a moment and then write down everything that springs to mind – anything that occurs to you, memories, mental images, feelings. Don’t censor any of it. Just write it all down.
Write your insights in a circle around the initial term. Circle each new item as well and connect a sequence of them to form chains of association. Draw lines connecting the initial term and the new ones that have occurred to you. Write down your thoughts as they spring to mind, individually, in chains, or in groups.
As you write, don’t try to direct or steer your thoughts. Just go with the flow. Don’t focus too much on the sequences of associations. Write down new sequences as they occur to you. Don’t force yourself to follow a certain train of thought or see whether your thoughts are connected and logical.
(Lit. Gabriele Rico (1984): Garantiert schreiben lernen. Sprachliche Kreativität methodisch entwickeln – ein Intensivkurs auf der Grundlage der modernen Gehirnforschung. Reinbek: Rowohlt)
