Stuck? Who’s stuck? I’m not stuck. I’m just hanging out until I get good ideas.

Table of Contents Speed Preview

Why This Post Matters For Fast GAMSAT Prep Reflective essays are a great backup or alternative to argumentative essays (especially when you can’t think of strong persuasive points). However, GAMSAT-takers may avoid reflective essays, due to the challenge of tapping into feelings and experiences. The solution is to do brainstorming before the essay-writing (Pre-brainstorming). Two ways to do Pre-brainstorming: Deliberate (sit and think) and Incidental (do stuff and don’t think) Two ways to do Incidental Pre-brainstorming: Direct (list of topics to focus on) and Indirect (any topic that pops up is fine) All methods of Pre-brainstorming are time-efficient, complement one another, and help develop your brainstorming skills – both the on-demand and at-random types

Who This Advice Best Serves People who want to diversify from argumentative essays into reflective essays People who have no clue how to reliably tap into their feelings and experiences People who have trouble with Section 2

Are You An Argumentative Essay One-Trick Pony?

Let us reflect on the noughties… oh, you weren’t born then?
Thanks for making me feel old (meanie).

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Gamster, how are the essays going-

(⌐O_O)
….

(^ΦдΦ^)
Have you been staring at that list of quotes for 50 minutes now?

(⌐O_O)
Um, 45, actually.

(^ΦдΦ^)
Oh that’s not that bad.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Well, what ails you, my child?

(⌐O_O)
I’m in the awkward position of being unable to think of convincing points for an argumentative essay, or engaging points for a reflective essay.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(Looks at quotes) Oh yeah, that’s always the case with half of the quotes.

(⌐O_O)
What do you mean?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Half of the quotes will suit argumentative essays, and half will suit reflective essays.

According to the GAMSAT info booklet, Section 2 has 2 tasks – each task corresponds to an essay, and has 5 quotes to choose from.

Task A has to do with socio-cultural issues, and Task B has to do with personal and social issues.

Once you go dutch, you never go back

(⌐O_O)
The tasks sound different.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
They sure do – there’s implications too:

Usually, Task A is more suited to argumentative essays, since the topics are more of a bird’s eye view (e.g. world peace) and debatable from a logical perspective.

In contrast, Task B is more suited to reflective essays, since the topics are more street-level (e.g. sense of achievement) and relatable on an individual level.

Usually, Gamsters stick to argumentative essays, since the essay structure is simpler.

(⌐O_O)
Yeah, it’s just:

• Intro
• Body Paragraph 1
  • Point 1
  • Example
• Body Paragraph 2
  • Point 2
  • Example
• Body Paragraph 3
  • Point 3
  • Example
• Conclusion

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
And argumentative also “seems” easier, since it seems easier to magic up some logic on demand, rather than having to search your feelings in real time – especially since aspiring med types usually have disproportionately large logic muscles.

Good for professional and, um, recreational and therapeutic uses

(⌐O_O)
Yep, can’t argue with tha-  GOD DAMMIT….

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Lol better luck next time.

The thing is, that aversion to reflective essays can be super damaging: You are essentially dooming yourself to looking for argumentative essays for Task B, from quotes which are not geared towards argumentative essays.

(^ΦдΦ^)
And also, there’s usually an overarching theme to the Tasks – e.g. Task A quotes are all about environmentalism, and Task B quotes are all about loss.

And if you know nothing about environmentalism (don’t worry, the social justice warriors will fix you up), then you have no logic to brainstorm for Task A – and suddenly you’re screwed, because you’re unable to go reflective on Task A.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
The thing is, it doesn’t need to be that way (baby): Reflective essays are in some ways easier than argumentative essays – because the essay structure is quite straightforward, and reflective essays make for self-sufficient pre-brainstorming.

(⌐O_O)
What’s pre-brainstorming?

In A Nutshell… GAMSAT takers may only write argumentative essays, because they’re confident in their logic and reasoning, and not confident that they can be reflective on the go. This can be hugely problematic, as: 1 of the 2 essay tasks of Section 2 will always be geared towards reflective essays, and The reflective essay is a valuable option to have when there’s not enough knowledge and logic for a task topic to write argumentatively.

The GAMSAT Reflective Essay Structure

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
You know the good old essay structure “Tell them what you’re about to tell them (intro), tell them (body), and tell them what you told them (conclusion)”?

(⌐O_O)
Yep?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
That’s what the argumentative essay structure is based off:

• Intro
  • Main idea (thesis), because of points 1, 2, and 3
• Body Paragraph 1
  • Link thesis to point
  • Point 1
  • Example
  • Tie back to thesis
• Body Paragraph 2
  • Link thesis to point
  • Point 2
  • Example
  • Tie back to thesis
• Body Paragraph 3
  • Link thesis to point
  • Point 3
  • Example
  • Tie back to thesis
• Conclusion
  • Thesis, because of points 1, 2, and 3
  • Overall suggestion or insight

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Thing is, the convention of what’s effective doesn’t suddenly change with reflective essays – the basic essay structure still applies:

• Intro
  • Main idea (thesis), because of experience
• Story
  • Give context
  • What happened
  • What you did
  • What was the result
  • What did you learn
• Story 2 and 3
  • As relevant
• Conclusion
  • The story/s, the insights that the story/s gave you, how the insights lead to your thesis

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
As you can see, reflective essays aren’t any harder to write than argumentative essays – both types are relatively straightforward structurally. The challenging thing about essays, are the actual content: For argumentative essays, it’s coming up with persuasive points and examples, and for reflective essays, it’s coming up with compelling insights and stories.

The great thing about reflective essays, is that you can pre-brainstorm much more self-sufficiently than with argumentative essays.

(⌐O_O)
WHAT IS PRE-BRAINSTORMING???

In A Nutshell… Reflective essays actually follow the same basic essay structure as argumentative essays, and aren’t harder to write. The maybe challenging thing is brainstorming the actual content. That said, compared to argumentative essays, reflective essays are better suited to brainstorming, because you are reflecting on your own opinions and experiences, so doesn’t require any research (unless you literally know nothing about the topic) The extension of this, is that reflective essays are easier to prepare for, via pre-brainstorming.

What Is Pre-Brainstorming?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Pre-brainstorming probably doesn’t make sense as a word for this context, but it’s the best I can come up with right now.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(Wait, there’s also Prophylactic Brainstorming)

(^ΦдΦ^)
(That’s too nerdy)

You know what’s also too nerdy?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(Preventative Brainstorming?)

(^ΦдΦ^)
(What are we preventing?)

Woah woah woah, too woke

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(What about Pre-emptive Brainstorming?)

(^ΦдΦ^)
(That works)

Strike first to avoid disappointment

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Ok, so Pre-emptive Brainstorming – or Pre-brainstorming, for short!

(^ΦдΦ^)
(Everything comes full-circle in the end)

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Basically, pre-brainstorming is the act of brainstorming opinions and experiences before the actual essay-writing.

Benefits of Pre-Brainstorming

This is an important exercise, for a lot of reasons:

• Writer’s block during actual essay-writing deletes your creativity
• You have super-good, Eureka-level ideas at random-ass times
• Having pre-prepared ideas makes brainstorming faster
  • You have examples on-the-ready to fill out the draft
  • It takes you less time to settle on the central idea (the “thesis”) of the essay – without which you can’t build on ideas and fully flesh out the essay

Now, you can do pre-brainstorming for both argumentative and reflective essays. The difference though, is that for argumentative essays, the knowledge and expertise of each topic lies outside of you – meaning that it’s not enough to just take the topic and think about it.

(^ΦдΦ^)
That’s how you end up with those mainstream, vanilla, basic-bitch points in your argumentative essays.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(But Sportsgirl is totally my style!)

(⌐O_O)
What would be like a mainstream point?

(^ΦдΦ^)
To use world peace as a topic: Like how we kind of have world peace right now because ppl shouldn’t kill one another. A kid who doesn’t even have his pen licence could tell you that.

A maybe more informed view would be like how we have world peace right now because war and instability is bad for the global market (AKA profitability) and established government structures (AKA the status quo), so there are forces other than black-and-white primary-school-level morality for keeping the peace.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
So, to do pre-brainstorming for argumentative essays, you need the topic, AND do research on it, THEN think really hard to come up with convincing, integrated points.

That’s not the case with pre-brainstorm for reflective essays.

The point of reflective essays is self-reflection, which means that you already have the answers inside you all along, and that little to no research is needed for most topics.

Of course, there will always be topics that you’ve not experienced, or thought much of, or even know about.

(^ΦдΦ^)
Like say, adoption.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(But you’re technically adopted)

(^ΦдΦ^)
(Shut up, mom)

Don’t you meow back at me!

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
In those cases, you will have to do some research – but for the most part, you just need some topics and your brain to do pre-brainstorming for reflective essays.

And there are two ways to pre-brainstorm – Deliberately or Incidentally – and it’s kinda like exercise, actually.

In A Nutshell… Pre-brainstorming is the act of pre-emptively brainstorming for ideas, before they are required for essay-writing. Benefits of pre-brainstorming: Side-step writer’s block Capture best ideas, which show up randomly Having pre-prepared ideas makes brainstorming faster There are two main types of Pre-Brainstorming: Deliberate Incidental

Method 1: Deliberate Pre-Brainstorming

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
The first type of pre-brainstorming is like going to the gym.

(⌐O_O)
I’ve never been to those places before.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
I know – I can tell by your glasses.

To be specific, you (a) make time for the activity, and (b) surround yourself with the best tools for the task.

To Do: Pre-Brainstorming

To expand on the above factors, you add pre-brainstorming as an actual task on your GAMSAT prep schedule.

(⌐O_O)
How long should I pre-brainstorm for?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
It’s up to you – you can spend as short as 5 to 10 minutes on a topic; or if you get really into it, and there’s no urgent study you’re falling behind on that day, you can spend 30 minutes or more on multiple topics – or really fleshing out one topic.

(⌐O_O)
And will it be painful?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Not really, later in the Minimise Time Waste section, we’ll explore how you don’t need to be wasting your time if you get stuck.

The Tools of The Pre-Brainstorming Trade

(⌐O_O)
What did you mean by “the best tools for the task”?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Ok, let me tell you about gym equipment.

(⌐O_O)
I meant for pre-brainstorming.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Oh right. Thanks for stopping me by the way – I don’t know anything about gym equipment.

When you’re doing pre-brainstorming, you should be at your desk, and have Word or Google Docs open, pensive and introspective music on the go, and also your web browser at the ready.

This means:

• You can list out a bunch of topics efficiently
• You have access to more emotionally evocative stimulus material
  • These get you into emotional and/or reflective states, making it easier to brainstorm
  • You can use these materials as topics to springboard into brainstorming
• When you have ideas, you can immediately write them down in full, and categorise them.
• If you have trouble coming up with ideas, you can research the topic easily
  • By the way, Reddit is one of the best sources of inspiration – find out how to properly use Reddit for GAMSAT prep

Benefits of Deliberate Pre-Brainstorming

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Pre-brainstorming is different from brainstorming, which makes it uniquely useful:

During essay-writing, you’re goal-oriented and time-constrained – to pump out two completed and non-terrible essays in 60 minutes.

(^ΦдΦ^)
(And yes, you should run every essay practice session under exam conditions).

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
When this is happening, you don’t have time for anything else.

When you do pre-brainstorming, though, you do have time and resources, and you don’t have fight-or-flight causing tunnel vision and writer’s block and stress incontinence and all that good stuff – you can actually be in a reflective and learning-oriented state.

This lets you do important things:

Benefit 1: You Can Flesh Out ALL The Ideas

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
During essay-writing, when you start getting ideas about a topic, you need to quickly identify the ideas that can give you (a) a complete essay, and (b) an interesting read – meaning you need to trim away (or ignore) other idea branches that happen to pop up.

During pre-brainstorming, when you start getting ideas about a topic, you can follow those other branches for great profit.

Follow ALL the trails

(⌐O_O)
What are the ways these follow-ups can help?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Well for example, there are branches that require brainstorming longer than what’s tolerable during essay-writing, but can become fully-developed essay ideas.

(^ΦдΦ^)
And since you’ve fleshed them out beforehand, they’re just ready to go.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Like say, if you have to think long and hard to remember a short poem you wrote years ago, but once you do, you can note it down again, then it just becomes an example that you have ready to deploy.

(^ΦдΦ^)
There are also dem Magikarp branches: Branches that don’t seem promising at the start, but led to more interesting ideas when fully fleshed out.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
For example, you didn’t have a particularly notable primary school experience, so you thought brainstorming about this phase in your life would not be fruitful. However, as you look through your box of stuff from those years, you discover the photo of you and your childhood bestie, whom you’ve lost contact with since changing schools. You decide to reconnect over social media, and pick up the friendship like not a day has passed. Do you think this doesn’t suddenly give you valuable insights and examples into childhood, personal circumstances, nostalgia, friendship, social media, technology, etc.?

Also, by fleshing out the entire topic (including for and against views, shades-of-grey views, mainstream and contentious views, strengths and weaknesses, history, function, major and minor players…), you now have ideas and examples for different stances.

That means you can write more well-balanced essays, by exploring the valid points of opposing stances.

And you can also write the most interesting essays, since you know what the most compelling viewpoints and examples are already.

Benefit 2: You Can Distill Your Own Creative Process

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
During essay-writing, when good ideas pop into your head, you just grab them and shove them into the essay draft – there’s no time to stuff around.

During pre-brainstorming, when good ideas pop into your head, you’re relaxed and time-free, so you can remember what you were thinking about immediately before, and before that too.

This allows you to analyse the processes and triggers that lead to (a) random good ideas, (b) remembering experiences, and (c) combining seemingly separate ideas into insights.

As you identify these things, you can try to recreate the same processes and triggers, and you may come up with the goods again.

As you get better at the above, you can reach a point where you can become creative on demand, about a specific topic – and suddenly, you find yourself holding the holy grail of Section 2 prep.

You Have The Benefit Of Research

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
During essay-writing, if you know nothing about the topic – then you’re kind of stuck with reaching into the abyss.

During pre-brainstorming, if you know nothing about the topic, you can just google it, or check if you wrote anything in the past about it (in blog posts, instant messages, or diary entries), or check other sources like social platforms, specialised sites, Q&A sites, books, etc.

A great tip is, as you’re going about your day, when you come across topics you know jack shit about, note them down, and that’s your list for the next deliberate pre-brainstorm session.

In A Nutshell… Deliberate Pre-Brainstorming involves brainstorming at your study setup, and making it a proper prep session. Here, you have all the free time, reflection-inducing material, research resources, and recording tools that you need. This is where you completely flesh out topics, and note everything down. Benefits: Gain ideas and experiences which can’t be fleshed out during essay-writing Identify and strengthen triggers for being creative on demand Research what you need

Method 2: Incidental Pre-Brainstorming

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Having learnt about deliberate pre-brainstorming, you might be wondering why there is even a competing method.

(⌐O_O)
Yep.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
That’s because they’re complementary to one another – and incidental pre-brainstorming has its unique benefits.

(⌐O_O)
Yeah but why though?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
You know all that time that you’re not prepping for the GAMSAT?

(^ΦдΦ^)
When you’re running errands, cooking, doing laundry, eating, stuck on the toilet….

(⌐O_O)
(From not enough fibre?)

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(No, from “mild” Sichuan hot pot.)

(^ΦдΦ^)
(“Mild” at Sichuan places, isn’t the same as “Mild” at Nandos)

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Hell, even the times when you can’t listen to podcasts (and you should listen to podcasts wherever you can), like when you’re showering, working, talking….

(^ΦдΦ^)
“Listening” to friends complain about their partners….

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
You know what you’re doing at those times? You’re living.

(^ΦдΦ^)
(But Gamsters are still living when they’re prepping for the GAMSAT)

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(That could be a contentious stance. But yeah I know, I’m just pointing out the times when Gamsters feel they aren’t productive – actually are)

You’re living, and you’re experiencing.

And reflective essays are all about the attitudes, insights, and stories ppl get from reflecting on their feelings and experiences.

So, on a scale from 1 to Very, how efficient do you think pre-brainstorming will be, when you simply start reflecting on stuff during your everyday life?

(⌐O_O)
Um, Extremely?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Exactly.

It’s kind of like living in the desert, then one day realising that you can turn on photosynthesis.

(^ΦдΦ^)
I don’t know where you’re going with that analogy.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
That’s awkward – neither do I.

ANYWAY. There are two ways of doing incidental pre-brainstorming: One is directed, and one is undirected

In A Nutshell… Incidental Pre-brainstorming happens anywhere, anytime, during your normal life. The two ways are Directed and Undirected.

Incidental Method 1: Directed Pre-Brainstorming

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
With directed pre-brainstorming, you note down a bunch of topics that you specifically want to pre-brainstorm about, then go about your normal life. You can also keep a list of these topics on you, and refer back to them at times throughout the day.

Because you’ve directed your brain to look for these topics, two things are more likely to happen:

• You notice examples of these topics in your life
• You link seemingly unrelated happenings to these topics, which usually lead to more interesting insights

(^ΦдΦ^)
It’s kind of like how if someone in your family becomes pregnant, suddenly you start seeing pregnant ppl everywhere.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Including pregnant men.

(^ΦдΦ^)
They’re just fat.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(Snarksy! The agree-upon description is “generously portioned”!)

(^ΦдΦ^)
(That’s a generous way of putting things)

(⌐O_O)
(And generosity is a virtue)

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(So, fat ppl are virtuous)

(^ΦдΦ^)
(No, we are virtuous)

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(Ok)

In A Nutshell… With Directed incidental pre-brainstorming, you manage a list of topics you want to brainstorm for, and review it regularly so your subconscious keeps its eyes on the prize.

Incidental Method 2: Undirected Pre-Brainstorming

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
With undirected pre-brainstorming, you just go about your daily life, and let serendipity do the heavy lifting.

(⌐O_O)
What’s serendipity?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Serendipity can be understood as luck, or happy accidents, or “the universe doing its thing”.

Life takes a turn when you take a turn.

Like if you met the love of your life because you took a different turn on your daily commute, or discovered what would become a lifetime’s fascination with street fashion, because you witnessed the phenomenon that was Brother Sharp in person, you can say that it was because of serendipity.

When you go street, you don’t go back.

Likewise, as you go through life, things will happen to you, you will make decisions, and some of these things will get you thinking, or remind you of something, or help clarify your values – all of which you can flesh out into material for reflective essays.

For example, you may see someone who looks like your ex, which triggers a cocktail of feelings and experiences and attitudes in the topics of love, loss, compatibility, loyalty, fate, forgiveness, grudges, and so on.

Hey, if you’ve got it, flaunt it.

Or you pass by a busker whose performance you like, but in your hurry, you didn’t leave a tip, or even stop and appreciate the show; and later you feel regret, which prompts you to reflect on how you want to spend your time and money, the legacy you want to leave the world with, the types of entertainment you value – and how that ties into your personal philosophy, etc.

And no time to join in, I’m guessing.

Or the shop was sold out of an ingredient you usually use, so you begrudgingly choose a similar ingredient, and then the dish you made turns out so great that the recipe becomes a proud personal special, and you think about the value of experimentation, the nature of secret recipes and intellectual property, the subject of piracy from the copyright holder’s perspective, your blossoming identity as a foodie, etc.

Always make sure you introduce each ingredient with the appropriate pomp.

(^ΦдΦ^)
Or you see a family in the mall, where the kids are making a mess, and the parents are on their phones giving zero fucks, and nobody else is doing anything. This annoys you, and leads you to think about parenting, physical discipline (and also the legal status of this topic, which knocks-on into the topic of domestic abuse), the intervention by unrelated ppl (or lack thereof) and its moral implications, and of course, the topic of hypocrisy – stemming from your own inactions towards the event (since you conveniently left, lost in thought for undirected pre-brainstorming like a worthy Gamster).

If you see one, run. Don’t try to be a hero.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
As you may have noticed, all of these reflections came from actual experiences, rather than from exercises without context (e.g. “now, reflect on the topic of losing then regaining something”) – like what deliberate pre-brainstorm involves.

(⌐O_O)
Yeah – reflection sounds… easier when that’s the case.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
That’s right, brainstorming seems easier, because rather than you finding the ideas, the ideas find you.

And no, don’t fight it 😊

And there are also two – no, THREE – other benefits:

In A Nutshell… With Undirected incidental pre-brainstorming, you just go about your day, and let the topics find you, through random experiences and insights.

Benefit 1: Value For Money

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Note that with the examples above, the experiences are dynamic (meaning they’re changing at the time) and complex (involving the interactions of lots of factors) – that means that from just one experience, you can brainstorm several topics.

Not only that, because the topics all come from brainstorming about the same experience, there is a load of overlap between the topics – so while you brainstorm for one topic, you generate material for other topics.

For example, say that you catch a puddle, leading to muddy shoes, socks and feet. This trauma leads you to reflect on:

• Personal hygiene
• Lifestyles
• What experiences evokes heavy emotions such as disgust
• Feeling sorry for oneself

If you brainstorm personal hygiene, and about keeping alcohol cleaner in every room, wet towels in your bag…

(^ΦдΦ^)
And an autoclave machine in the kitchen for your cutlery (you psycho).

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
…And you realise that this is because your germaphobe parents raised you this way, and that it’s your lifestyle now, and you’ve never questioned it, and actually, when you think about it, you really don’t care for being 100% clean all of the time, and that muddy shoes don’t feel that disgusting – and you definitely don’t feel sorry for yourself….

(^ΦдΦ^)
And that’s also when you realised that you would actually enjoy camping.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Yes – that’s an extra topic: Learning about yourself from seemingly unrelated events.

If you brainstorm what experiences evokes heavy emotions such as disgust, you might really hate bugs – and it’s actually the possibility of there being bugs in the mud in your shoes that freaks you out, not the fact that your shoes feel muddy. This also informs both personal hygiene and lifestyle, with you vacuuming everyday, covering all your food with cling wrap-

(^ΦдΦ^)
Even whole fruits individually (seriously, you have problems)

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
-And holding insect repellent (in your hands) 85% of the time. And that reminds you that you read something about how ppl around the world eat bugs already, and how insects could be the food of the future – and that you’d really feel sorry for yourself if your life comes to that point.

(^ΦдΦ^)
Then you realise that shellfish are pretty much the insects of the sea, and proceed to swear off a majority of seafood. More for me I guess.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
As you can see, since the topics branching off the same experience are so close to one another, brainstorming for one topic causes both splash damage to other topics – where the brainstorming automatically applies to those topics, and also chain-reactions, where the brainstorming for this topic naturally leads to brainstorming for other topics. It’s all super-convenient.

Fun times impending

Benefit 2: Example Already Included In The Cost

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Hey Gamster, what do you hate most about brainstorming?

(⌐O_O)
Coming up with examples – it’s like, you know you have the experience, but you just can’t think of any when you need to.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
That’s usually the case: You kind of just come up with opinions when you think about the quotes – but without the examples, there’s no weight and no soul to your essay.

(^ΦдΦ^)
And we all know that souls have weight.

(⌐O_O)
We do?

(^ΦдΦ^)
No.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
But yeah, examples are hard – when they’re the follow-up.

When you do indirect pre-brainstorming, you are starting with the example – so any pre-brainstorming ideas you come up with, you already have a real-life, fleshed-out example ready to go.

(⌐O_O)
That’s super convenient.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
You said it.

Benefit 3: Everyone Gets An Example

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
What’s more, you now have an example for several topics – since the reflection on those topics came from that same example experience.

(⌐O_O)
Wait, I can use the same example for different topics?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Of course you can. Only stand-up comedians aren’t supposed to recycle their material (and most of them do anyway).

(^ΦдΦ^)
It’s like your best jokes or stories – if they get the right reaction, there’s no shame in retelling them.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Also, there are no downsides to using the same example for different topics: For the actual GAMSAT, you are writing two essays, based on two different Tasks, and each task has its own topic. And only Task B topics are more reflective in nature. And Tasks A and B will have topics which are nowhere close to one another.

That means there is not really any scenarios where you would use the same example in both essays, in the same Section 2 session.

For example, for the occurrence where you saw your ex, you can use the example for the topics of “love”, “loss”, “compatibility”, “loyalty”, “fate”, and “forgiveness” – these are all Task B topics, so there’s no way for you to use it for Task A too (which is probably something like “sabotage” or “institutionalisation”).

(^ΦдΦ^)
God damn, it’s awfully Orwellian to see all those topics in one sentence.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Also, don’t feel like you can’t recycle ideas and examples from practice essays – if something works, use it. Examiners don’t get to read any of your old essays.

(^ΦдΦ^)
(You’re assuming ACER isn’t run by the CIA.)

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(There’s no point in assuming that: If ACER is the CIA, they’d also have access to your browser history – then no one would be morally wholesome enough to get into medicine)

(^ΦдΦ^)
You and your Trump DeepFakes….

Benefit 4: Natural Creative Triggers

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Oh, there’s actually one more thing…

(^ΦдΦ^)
(Really, Will?)

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
It’s a good thing!

You know how with deliberate pre-brainstorming, you have time and energy, so you can identify and possibly develop your creative triggers?

(⌐O_O)
Yeah, turns out my trigger is jam.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Oh. What type?

(⌐O_O)
Licorice.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Ummm, ok….

(⌐O_O)
…

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
….

(⌐O_O)
…

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(Don’t ask what happens to the jam. Just don’t do it.)

(^ΦдΦ^)
(Is that even a flavour of jam?)

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Anyway! With undirected pre-brainstorming, you can also identify and develop your creative triggers – except rather than the active “it came to me when I thought really hard” type, it’s the passive “I was just doing my thing when it hit me” type.

(⌐O_O)
Wait, so you can develop the skill of randomly coming up with ideas?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Of course you can – well, it’s not really a skill (Blizzard says otherwise though), it’s more of the right settings – like if you identify the things in your environment that’s somehow linked to you getting more ideas, you can fill your life with more of it.

(⌐O_O)
(Like jam.)

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(Will you stop it with the jam!)

(⌐O_O)
(Yoghurt then?)

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(Black yoghurt!)

(^ΦдΦ^)
(Or pudding.)

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(For the puddy cat!)

You don’t have to know how it works – you just need to do it, and stack the deck in your advantage.

See here for a bunch of things you can do right now, on top of the personal triggers you’ll learn about yourself.

(separate post: Legal and free ways to increase your creativity today)

In A Nutshell… Both types of Incidental pre-brainstorming have the following benefits: Brainstorming seems easier, because rather than you finding the ideas, the ideas find you Real-life experiences are dynamic and complex, so you can easily extract multiple topics from every instance Since multiple topics can be connected with the same experience, the more you flesh out one topic, the more the connected topics automatically flesh themselves out New topics naturally appear when you pre-brainstorm via real-life experiences. Examples are hard to think of on demand – but here, you start with the examples themselves, in the form of experiences and insights Several topics automatically gained an example, since they came from the same experience Yes, you can re-use the same examples for different topics (as long as they’re relevant); and no, the examiners won’t know about it. You identify and develop creative triggers for coming up with ideas randomly

How To Pre-Brainstorm On The Go

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Of course, a major difference between deliberate and incidental pre-brainstorming, is that for the latter, you don’t necessarily have the time and resources to flesh out all the ideas.

So, I recommend carrying around a pen and notepad, and noting down the ideas as they come up.

(⌐O_O)
Can I use my phone instead?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
It’s up to you: Note that the purpose of deliberate pre-brainstorming is that you’re fast enough to not impact on your non-GAMSAT-prep activities (so you can get back to GAMSAT prep faster), but you also take enough notes to adequately remind yourself later of the idea, when you can type out the full brainstorm.

As long as you can load the note-taking app and thumb-type fast enough, you should be fine: I use Google Keep on an older iPhone, and the app can take up to 10 seconds to load from zero – and that’s like 3 days in dog years!

(^ΦдΦ^)
I don’t think that’s the right scale.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
For for me, I could have the Google Keep screen open at all times, or use Apple’s own Notes app, which has no lag.

Note that with your phone, auto-correct can help your speed, but can make it hard to abbreviate stuff- but that’s getting into the tiny details….

With pen and paper, it’s also easier to make mindmaps, which can be faster for some ppl.

For example, for the busker example, you might write:

Note

Busker Liked show Didn’t give money or stick around (busy) Guilty afterwards Explore – How I spend money and time – Legacy to leave world with – Entertainment I value (tie to personal philosophy)

Mindmap

*Made using FreeMind

In A Nutshell… Incidental pre-brainstorming happens when you’re running errands and living life, so you don’t have the time and resources to flesh out all the ideas. So, make sure you have a reliable method of quickly noting down ideas: Pen + notepad Phone + note-taking app

How Everything Fits Together

(⌐O_O)
That’s a lot of different brainstorming methods – I think I’m gonna go throw up now.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
No don’t do that. Here’s how everything fits together.

When At Your Study Setup

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
(Study setup means laptop, available WiFi, time to sit and work)

Do deliberate pre-brainstorming:

• List out topics to explore
• Flesh out topics by thinking and reflecting
• Process incidental pre-brainstorming topics
• Research topics you have little opinions or examples for

For topics you’re stuck on and can’t flesh out -> Add to directed pre-brainstorming list -> save for incidental pre-brainstorming

When NOT At Your Study Setup

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Do incidental pre-brainstorming (includes directed and undirected types):

• Review your directed pre-brainstorming list regularly
• Carry notepad and pen, or have note-taking app loaded and ready
• Note down inspirations, flesh out where possible – only write down keywords and key phrases
• You’re doing life -> you don’t have the time and setup to flesh out and note down everything -> save for deliberate pre-brainstorming

In A Nutshell… When at your study setup, do deliberate pre-brainstorming Topics you’re stuck on and can’t flesh out -> Save for incidental pre-brainstorming When NOT at your study setup, do incidental pre-brainstorming Topics you don’t have the time and setup to flesh out -> Save for deliberate pre-brainstorming

Minimise Time Waste

(⌐O_O)
But what happens when you strain really hard, and nothing comes out?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
The good news is that you’ll eventually get haemorrhoids, so that kinda counts as something coming out!

(⌐O_O)
No no NO that’s not what I’m on about – I’m talking about when brainstorming gets you absolutely nothing, and you just feel like you’re wasting your time.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Oh yeah I know that feel: It’s like when girls ask their bae what they’re thinking cos the guy has a serious expression, but it turns out that the guy wasn’t thinking about anything at all – never query your brain, cos all that’ll do is lead to disappointment.

Although sometimes there are high-stakes ideas behind that expression

(⌐O_O)
Wait, I thought we were talking about brainstorming effectively.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
We are. Jokes aside, sometimes you’ve just got nothing – even with the help of your laptop and the web at your fingertips.

And that’s ok – your subconscious just needs time to chew on the topic, and poop out creative shit when it’s ready.

(⌐O_O)
Ewww

(^ΦдΦ^)
(Coughs furballs at Gamster, which connects for Big Damage)

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
The point is, when you can’t brainstorm a particular topic, you just need to give it time – and the key is to not waste time while you’re waiting.

(⌐O_O)
But how?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
By planning for it.

If you’re Asian, you know that when you start making dinner, the first thing you do, is to get the rice to start cooking. You know why that is?

(⌐O_O)
Cos it takes the longest?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
That’s… debatable.

(^ΦдΦ^)
Will cooks dishes really slowly. Maybe it’s cos he’s distracted by podcasts.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
It’s cos rice is the most time-dependent thing – it takes however long it’s gonna take, and you can’t do anything to speed things up.

(^ΦдΦ^)
Like Will once forgot to make rice till late, and tried putting boiling water in with the raw rice to try to help things along.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
It didn’t work.

So the thing with time-bottlenecks, is to schedule them at the start of your process: That way it has all the time in the world to do its thing, while you go away and do something else.

(⌐O_O)
So you prep the rice to cook, then go and cook the other dishes?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
That’s right. Same thing with pre-brainstorming: If you account for the (very real) possibility of getting stuck on a topic, you can schedule things so you don’t waste time.

For deliberate pre-brainstorming, you start with fresh topics.

If you get stuck, you (a) do research about it.

“Research”

If that doesn’t help, you (b) move on to the next topic. Repeat steps A and B until you get through the list of fresh topics.

(^ΦдΦ^)
Yes, that means you should only have a few fresh topics per session – we don’t want to be pre-brainstorming for the whole day.

(⌐O_O)
Just to clarify, what do you mean by “fresh” topics?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
As in topics you haven’t thought about before. During deliberate pre-brainstorming, there are:

• Fresh topics you’ll try to think of ideas and experiences for
• Old topics which you’ve already thought up ideas and experiences for during incidental pre-brainstorming, which you’ll flesh out and note down in full here (covered in Step C)

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
If you’ve covered all the topics in that session and some topics are still stuck, you (c) start processing the incidental pre-brainstorming topics, which you already came up with examples and ideas for.

Be thankful it exists

If after all that and some topics are still stuck, you (d) add the stuck topics to the directed incidental pre-brainstorming list, and finish up the deliberate pre-brainstorming session.

When the list gets long enough, you can give it a name, and keep it as a pet.

(^ΦдΦ^)
This way, as soon as you catch yourself being stuck, you move on and stop wasting time.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
And at any point in Steps A to D, you can come back to the stuck topic – and if it’s become unstuck, you just work on it like nothing’s happened.

For incidental pre-brainstorming, you are literally doing your normal life stuff while your subconscious is brainstorming in the background – so there’s no time wasted at all.

Insights, anywhere, anytime, all the time

Why Step B Though?

(⌐O_O)
Why should I cover all the topics first before Step C?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
As opposed to doing Step C as soon as you get stuck on a topic?

(⌐O_O)
Yeah.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
That’s cos you’re benefiting from the number’s game.

For example, the more ppl you swipe right with, the more likely you’ll get a match.

(^ΦдΦ^)
(Assuming you didn’t stuff up your profile.)

Um, love your work?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Similarly, the more topics you hand your subconscious to gnaw on at the same time, the more likely you are to get inspiration back.

Inefficient Way

Say you have 5 topics (T1 to T5), you get stuck on T1.

So you move onto Step C, and process all the ideas and examples.

Then you come back to T1 – you’re still stuck.

You do T2 to T5, and get stuck on T2 and T4.

You now have three topics that you’re stuck on, which you can’t process right now without wasting time.

Efficient Way

In contrast, you cover all 5 topics immediately, and you’re stuck on T1, T2, and T4.

You then do Step C.

After this, you notice that you now have some ideas for T2, so you process that too.

You’re left being stuck on two topics instead of three.

You were able to process more topics, because you gave your subconscious more time to digest all of them.

(^ΦдΦ^)

And since you can’t exactly overwhelm your subconscious with too much work, there’s no downsides to throwing all the topics at it in one go.

In A Nutshell… Stuck topics usually just take time to resolve, and you can minimise time wastage while you’re waiting. For Directed Pre-brainstorming, follow this structure for your sessions when stuck on a topic: Research it Move to next topic, repeat A and B, until you run out of fresh topics Start processing incidental pre-brainstorming topics, which you have examples and ideas for Add stubbornly stuck topics to directed incidental pre-brainstorming list, and finish session At any step, if a topic becomes unstuck, you can process it. For Incidental Pre-brainstorming, you’re doing stuff while pre-brainstorming happens in the background – no time is wasted.

Time-Waste Avoidance In Pre-Brainstorming ≠ Time-Waste Avoidance In Essay Brainstorming

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Even though I recommend not sitting and pre-brainstorming when nothing’s coming out, I recommend the opposite when it comes to actual brainstorming during Section 2 practice.

(⌐O_O)
So, when writing practice essays, I have to sit there until ideas come out?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
That right.

(⌐O_O)
Isn’t that inefficient though?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
It seems inefficient, because you would think that you’re comparing apples and apples. We’re actually comparing apples and avocados: Pre-brainstorming and essay brainstorming serve completely different purposes.

The purpose of pre-brainstorming is to find insights and examples to use later, so if you don’t think of anything right there and then, it doesn’t matter.

In contrast, the purpose of essay brainstorming is to find insights and examples to use immediately, and if you don’t think of anything right there and then, within the allocated brainstorming period, it matters a lot.

(^ΦдΦ^)
(Like, “you fail this essay”-level a lot.)

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
When you do essay brainstorming, there’s actually an element of conditioning: You are putting yourself in the same setting:

• Seated at desk
• With no research tools
• With no external stimuli

And forcing yourself to achieve a certain outcome:

• Above average insights and examples for 2 essays,
• Within 5 to 15 minutes of time allocated to brainstorming
  • Minimum (5min): The 5 minutes of Reading Time (RT)
  • Maximum (15min): 5min RT + 10min of Writing Time (5min for each essay)

During brainstorming for practice essays, if you can’t think of good ideas, you sit there until you do; and if all you get are average ideas, you do your best with them.

(⌐O_O)
Is that an order?

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Sir, yes Sir!

(⌐O_O)
That sounds a bit harsh.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
It does. Then again, this is tough love: The GAMSAT will not cut you any slack, so if you cut yourself slack during practice, you’ll expect to cut yourself slack in the GAMSAT, which leaves you open to ridiculously-awesome wrestling finishers from the G-Force itself.

(^ΦдΦ^)
(Will goes through all this in the post Why Practicing Essays For GAMSAT Every Day Is Important.)

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
So yeah, when you’re stuck during pre-brainstorming, minimise time-wastage by doing something else; but when you’re stuck during brainstorming for practice essays, power through it, until you get unstuck. With experience, you’ll get better at brainstorming on demand.

In A Nutshell… Minimising time wastage does not apply during essay-writing prep, because the purpose is to condition you to reliably perform on the actual GAMSAT. If you get stuck on a topic during essay-writing practice, stick with it until you think of something, and write the best essay you can manage.

Summary

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
That was a long read!

(^ΦдΦ^)
You can say that again….

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
Let’s summarise for great justice:

GAMSAT takers may only write argumentative essays, because they’re confident in their logic and reasoning, and not confident that they can be reflective on the go. This can be hugely problematic, as: 1 of the 2 essay tasks of Section 2 will always be geared towards reflective essays, and The reflective essay is a valuable option to have when there’s not enough knowledge and logic for a task topic to write argumentatively.

Reflective essays actually follow the same basic essay structure as argumentative essays, and aren’t harder to write. The maybe challenging thing is brainstorming the actual content. That said, compared to argumentative essays, reflective essays are better suited to brainstorming, because you are reflecting on your own opinions and experiences, so doesn’t require any research (unless you literally know nothing about the topic) The extension of this, is that reflective essays are easier to prepare for, via pre-brainstorming.

Pre-brainstorming is the act of pre-emptively brainstorming for ideas, before they are required for essay-writing. Benefits of pre-brainstorming: Side-step writer’s block Capture best ideas, which show up randomly Having pre-prepared ideas makes brainstorming faster There are two main types of Pre-Brainstorming: Deliberate Incidental

Deliberate Pre-Brainstorming involves brainstorming at your study setup, and making it a proper prep session. Here, you have all the free time, reflection-inducing material, research resources, and recording tools that you need. This is where you completely flesh out topics, and note everything down. Benefits: Gain ideas and experiences which can’t be fleshed out during essay-writing Identify and strengthen triggers for being creative on demand Research what you need

Incidental Pre-brainstorming happens anywhere, anytime, during your normal life. The two ways are Directed and Undirected.

With Directed incidental pre-brainstorming, you manage a list of topics you want to brainstorm for, and review it regularly so your subconscious keeps its eyes on the prize.

With Undirected incidental pre-brainstorming, you just go about your day, and let the topics find you, through random experiences and insights.

Both types of Incidental pre-brainstorming have the following benefits: Brainstorming seems easier, because rather than you finding the ideas, the ideas find you Real-life experiences are dynamic and complex, so you can easily extract multiple topics from every instance Since multiple topics can be connected with the same experience, the more you flesh out one topic, the more the connected topics automatically flesh themselves out New topics naturally appear when you pre-brainstorm via real-life experiences. Examples are hard to think of on demand – but here, you start with the examples themselves, in the form of experiences and insights Several topics automatically gained an example, since they came from the same experience Yes, you can re-use the same examples for different topics (as long as they’re relevant); and no, the examiners won’t know about it. You identify and develop creative triggers for coming up with ideas randomly

Incidental pre-brainstorming happens when you’re running errands and living life, so you don’t have the time and resources to flesh out all the ideas. So, make sure you have a reliable method of quickly noting down ideas: Pen + notepad Phone + note-taking app

When at your study setup, do deliberate pre-brainstorming Topics you’re stuck on and can’t flesh out -> Save for incidental pre-brainstorming When NOT at your study setup, do incidental pre-brainstorming Topics you don’t have the time and setup to flesh out -> Save for deliberate pre-brainstorming

Stuck topics usually just take time to resolve, and you can minimise time wastage while you’re waiting. For Directed Pre-brainstorming, follow this structure for your sessions when stuck on a topic: Research it Move to next topic, repeat A and B, until you run out of fresh topics Start processing incidental pre-brainstorming topics, which you have examples and ideas for Add stubbornly stuck topics to directed incidental pre-brainstorming list, and finish session At any step, if a topic becomes unstuck, you can process it. For Incidental Pre-brainstorming, you’re doing stuff while pre-brainstorming happens in the background – no time is wasted.

Minimising time wastage does not apply during essay-writing prep, because the purpose is to condition you to reliably perform on the actual GAMSAT. If you get stuck on a topic during essay-writing practice, stick with it until you think of something, and write the best essay you can manage.

( ﾟ∀ﾟ)
What’s your experience with pre-brainstorming? Let us know in the Comments below!

Cover all essay topics, and start writing strong essays, in just 2 or 3 days. LEARN HOW