--- title: "Brainstorm template in Markdown: question, ideas and groups" slug: markdown-brainstorm-template excerpt: "The section Brainstorm template to paste holds a single Markdown block for one brainstorm, then walks through the block's parts one at a time." quickAnswer: "Under Brainstorm template to paste, a title line names the question and the date, two header lines give People and Place, and four level-two headings follow: Question, Ideas, Groups and Picked to try." keyTakeaways: - "The section How brainstorm files differ from minutes, which also links the decision record template, sets a brainstorm file apart from meeting minutes." - "The section Corner room sample at Doe Holdings has Jane Doe asking John Doe what to do with an empty corner room." - "The section Short brainstorm files lists four tips, each tied to template lines, sample lines or both." - "The section Naming brainstorm files gives each brainstorm one .md file whose name opens on a year-first date." - "Under Naming brainstorm files, a single sentence links the meeting agenda template." publishedDate: 2026-10-22 dateModified: 2026-10-22 author: Bobby Huang cluster: A role: post status: published faq: - q: "How is a brainstorm file different from meeting minutes?" a: "Under How brainstorm files differ from minutes, the post says what each of the two files holds, with a link to the minutes template." - q: "What goes under the Groups heading?" a: "Under Corner room sample at Doe Holdings, three group headings hold two of the six ideas apiece." - q: "How long is the picked list?" a: "Under Short brainstorm files, one tip asks for a short picked list with a name on each line, and two ideas are picked in the sample." related: - markdown-meeting-minutes-template - markdown-decision-record-template - markdown-bullet-points - markdown-meeting-agenda-template --- Here, a brainstorm template means one plain .md file kept for a single brainstorm session about one question. Inside it go the question that needs ideas, each raw idea as it turns up, those same ideas sorted under a few groups, and a short list of picked ideas, each one carrying the name of whoever tries it. After that come the template, brief remarks on each part, an invented sample, four tips for a short file, and a pattern for its name. The file is nothing but plain text. You can write it in whichever text editor you keep on your computer, with no software to add. ## How brainstorm files differ from minutes You put the ideas down as people say them, sort them into groups afterward, and pick a few to try. Minutes are another kind of file. Set up by the [meeting minutes template](markdown-meeting-minutes-template.md), they record the whole meeting: who came, what people discussed, the decisions made and the tasks that follow from them. A brainstorm file stays with one question and holds the raw ideas on it, the groups those ideas were sorted into, and the few picked to try. When one idea turns into a choice, the reasons for that choice go in a separate file. For that file, use the [decision record template](markdown-decision-record-template.md), which sets out one file per choice: the option picked, the reason behind it and every option that lost. ## Brainstorm template to paste This post's template is the block below. Make a blank .md file, paste the whole block into it, and replace every placeholder with words of your own. ```markdown # Brainstorm: the question in a few words, YYYY-MM-DD - People: First Person, Second Person - Place: the room you sit in ## Question One sentence that asks what you want ideas for. ## Ideas - One idea, in one line - Another idea, in one line - A third idea, in one line ## Groups ### First group name - An idea copied from the Ideas list - Another idea copied from the Ideas list ### Second group name - An idea copied from the Ideas list ## Picked to try - Name tries the first idea picked - Name tries the second idea picked ``` Part by part, from the top: - **Title line.** Written as a level-one heading, it begins with the word Brainstorm, then gives the question in a few words and lastly a year-first date. - **People.** Who takes part, one name after another, split by commas. - **Place.** Where the brainstorm happens, such as a room name. - **Question.** One sentence that asks what you want ideas for. - **Ideas.** One dash line per idea, written down as it comes, with no sorting yet. - **Groups.** One level-three heading per group, with a short name. Under each group heading, the ideas that belong together appear again as dash lines. - **Picked to try.** One dash line per idea picked, opening with the name of whoever tries it. Each idea from the Ideas list is copied under one group heading. That way the Ideas list keeps the ideas in the order people said them, and the Groups part shows how they were sorted afterward. The two header lines, the ideas, the lines under each group and the picked lines are all dash lists. For what happens when a dash list sits right under a sentence, with or without a gap line in between, read the [Markdown bullet points post](markdown-bullet-points.md). ## Corner room sample at Doe Holdings This whole sample is invented, and so is Doe Holdings. The People line lists Jane Doe, then John Doe, and nobody else is named. Jane Doe asks John Doe to brainstorm with her about what to do with an empty corner room on the fourth floor. ```markdown # Brainstorm: the empty corner room, 2026-10-29 - People: Jane Doe, John Doe - Place: the empty corner room ## Question What could Jane Doe and John Doe do with the empty corner room on the fourth floor? ## Ideas - A quiet room with two desks and no talking - A shelf of books with one reading chair - A small meeting room with four chairs - A room for phone calls, one person at a time - A place to keep spare chairs and desks - Lockers for coats and bags ## Groups ### Quiet work - A quiet room with two desks and no talking - A shelf of books with one reading chair ### Talk and calls - A small meeting room with four chairs - A room for phone calls, one person at a time ### Storage - A place to keep spare chairs and desks - Lockers for coats and bags ## Picked to try - Jane Doe tries the quiet room with two desks - John Doe tries the room for phone calls ``` The Ideas heading holds six ideas, one dash line apiece. Under Groups, three group headings hold two ideas each, and those six lines repeat the six idea lines word for word. Two ideas sit under Picked to try. Jane Doe tries the quiet room, and John Doe tries the room for phone calls. The date 2026-10-29 in the title line is written year first. ## Short brainstorm files This template aims at a short file. Below are four tips, and each rests on template lines, sample lines or both: - **One question per file.** In the template, the Question heading has a single placeholder sentence, and the corner room question in the sample is a single sentence too. - **One line per idea.** Each idea takes a single dash line under Ideas, in the template's three lines and in the sample's six. - **A few groups.** Ideas are copied under a few group headings: two in the template and three in the sample. - **A short picked list with a name on each line.** Two ideas are picked in the sample, and each picked line opens with a name, Jane Doe on one and John Doe on the other. An idea picked to try can have its own file with [an experiment template](markdown-experiment-template.md). ## Naming brainstorm files Here each brainstorm gets one .md file of its own. The file name begins with the date, year first, and some words about the question come after the date: `2026-10-29-corner-room.md`. The sample's title line carries that date too, 2026-10-29. Why names that open on a year-first date come out in date order once sorted is covered in the [file naming post](markdown-file-naming.md). A meeting agenda is a separate file that lists the topics of one meeting, and the [meeting agenda template](markdown-meeting-agenda-template.md) sets it up. A topic that is still only raw ideas can get a brainstorm file of its own. ## Where Sashmark fits Planned for the desktop computer, Sashmark is to be a reader for Markdown and an editor too, intended for anyone whose .md text comes out of AI agents. None of Sashmark has come out yet, and the software is still in development. One kind of file set that Sashmark is planned for is a project folder in which brainstorm files sit next to other .md files from the same project. See the [planned features](/features), the [help pages](/help) and the [roadmap](/roadmap) for where each part stands. Visit [sashmark.com](https://www.sashmark.com/).