---
title: "Brainstorming with Classic Rock"
description: "I turned a drive into a storytelling adventure, letting '80s and '90s rock songs inspire a heap of story ideas that I captured in voice notes. It was a blast, but wow, did it wear me out!"
url: "https://jimmydnet.com/blog/rapid-brainstorming-with-80s-music"
published: "2024-02-05T00:41:00Z"
updated: "2024-02-05T01:41:10Z"
authors: ["Jimmy D"]
categories: ["Storyteller"]
---

# Brainstorming with Classic Rock

I turned a drive into a storytelling adventure, letting '80s and '90s rock songs inspire a heap of story ideas that I captured in voice notes. It was a blast, but wow, did it wear me out!

![](https://jimmydnet.com/blog/assets/uploads/84425e469da42751c4f71bf273fd9587.jpg)

Disclamer: The Lotus isn't mine nor is it from 80's but I know a young Jimmy would drool over it!

Back to today . . .

With todays Long Coffee Trip, I experimented with the ide of rapid brainstorming to work on character and plot development, using rock hits from 1986 to 1990 as thinking triggers. I really dont have an issue coming up with ideas but with the way my noodle noodles I have to find ways to wrangle all those thoughts. Today's technology made my creative journey a breeze; I simply asked Google to play the top 10 rock songs from each year starting with 1986, turning my car into a rolling brainstorming session and ,as planned, each song from playlist prompted a quick burst of story ideas, that I recorded as voice notes.

For example . . .

"Addicted to Love" by Robert Palmer, mainly due to its iconic video, inspired a funny tale about a 15-year-old boy's misunderstandings of romance and hyperfocused on the video! "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses gave rise to a story about a teen navigating high school's chaos, each riff bringing a new comedic twist.

"Love Shack" by The B-52's prompted an idea about a group of eclectic college students in a run-down house, their quirky adventures highlighting friendship and humor.

From 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM the drive was filled with a numerous moments of inspiration from each of the various tracks, each serving as a catalyst for a range of ideas, from humorous to heartfelt. The resuls were not only character and plot developement for the story i'm working on now but also sprouted a few ideas for brand new written adventures. For me, it's like planting little idea seeds; some sprout into big stories, others stay small, and some even merge together. Right now, my biggest projects are the "Funland" series, coming out June 1st, and "Graybacks," set for a May release.

By the time I pulled into my driveway, my watch was practically bursting with over an hour of voice notes. This whole exercise was like running a mental marathon while being tickled by the muses of rock 'n' roll—fun and rewarding, but boy, did it leave me creatively pooped!

#writersjourney #lct2024