Brainstorm: 21 Details

Watch the video above as I guide you through this exercise.

The 21 Details Brainstorming Exercise

Instructions: Make a list of 21 details from your life, interesting facts that describe some small, random part of who you are.

Here are mine:

1. I’m the oldest of five siblings. 

2. My close friends refer to me as the “Snack King.”

3. I usually listen to down-tempo electronic music when I work. 

4. I consider myself a Third Culture Kid. 

5. I speak fluent Spanish because I raised in Spain, Ecuador, Colombia. I also attended 13 schools growing up. 

6. My guilty pleasure is Pop Chips. 

7. I spent a lot of time thinking about money in high school and college, mostly because my family didn’t have much. 

8. My first job was working at McDonald’s. I started the day after I turned 15 and made $4.20 an hour. After taxes, it was less than $3.50 an hour. I mostly used it to rent movies.

9. I thought I wanted to be a screenwriter, but realized I was much more fulfilled by teaching. 

10. I love doing silly voices and can do lots of different accents. 

11. I love Pixar films and often cry when I watch them. 

12. When my brothers and I hang out we mostly like to play board games and eat good, cheap food. My youngest brother, Nick, is a vegan and inspired me to become (mostly) vegetarian. 

13. I lived in New York City for a while, but found it kinda’ stressful. I prefer a slower pace of life, I think. 

14. I love poetry and my favorite poet is Rumi. 

15. I’ve been to Burning Man 13 or 14 times (I’ve lost count).

16. I sometimes struggle with work/life balance. I wonder if this will always be the case. 

17. I learned to do math in my head by playing Monopoly. 

18. Sometimes at night I watch YouTube videos on chess. I used to procrastinate in college on writing papers by playing Yahoo Chess. 

19. One place I’m at home is on the basketball court. I could shoot free throws for hours-and I’m pretty good at teaching people how to shoot them.

20. I think I have a bit of misophonia (which is when certain sounds really really bug you, like people chewing too loudly or when people scratch certain materials). 

21. I usually wear blue collared shirts or a black t-shirt these days. Mostly because I don’t want to think too much about what I wear each day.

Note: I originally wrote a few more, but trimmed them to these 21 so you wouldn’t be confused.

See how each is a little tiny glimpse into my world? It’s impossible to capture all of who you are in 25 or even 500 words, but with a few, carefully chosen details, a portrait begins to emerge. Think of these 21 details as a collage.

Once you’ve written your 21 details, look for themes. Is there anything that comes up again and again? That may be a good theme for your essay.

What are some random facts about you?

If you’re looking for more, here’s another great brainstorming exercise.

Another great read: Revising Your Essay in 5 Steps

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