Unnecessary Necessaries (Shorts & Vignettes)

[Andirigible]

Anyone ever gone totally tangential on a plotline and written a short story/vignette on a piece of a world/reality that has very little to the main plot, and shouldn't be included, but you felt just had to be put out there (either so you didn't forget or so it would be accompanying information)?
What about other kinds of writing/brainstorming?
Anyone ever done some sort of media project (PowerPoint, a scrapbook, etc) about a culture or something in a story/novel world?
How do YOU brainstorm/work out details?

Me, I'm thinking about writing (haven't yet written, but am planning to in the very VERY near future) a series of short stories based on the different cultures in Moendh, the world of my NaNo novel. I've also made quite a few slideshows presenting the cultures, celebrations, and customs (and even histories) of various cultures in Moendh. ((I think I'm going to have an excellently-developed world by November 1st, and a shoddy quick salad of a plotline. I wonder how well that's going to go. Pfft.))  

[All Purpose Muling Device]

I don't do it because it's brainstorming or working out details for a story. I do it because I enjoy it. Nothing solid might ever come of it. I often write vignettes to write the vignettes; they just happen to occur in the same overall setting.

Doesn't really matter if I "forget" them (sometimes I do after I write them) and they frequently don't give any much of any useful information to readers who actually care about the details.

Though, sometimes it does work out details. That's nice, I suppose. Not really very important, though. I could work them out in my head if they ever came up later, anyway.  

[Appelsina]

Yes, I've done plenty of word documents and powerpoints for the sole reason of not forgetting it. I actually have fun doing it. I usually write about these ideas or other items because it makes me feel a little better. Sure, cramming it in my head is just as handy, but I feel as if my head is lighter if I put them down somewhere else.

I brainstorm on Word, in my notebook, or just keep the idea in my head if it isn't worth enough to write down. I brainstorm them by writing it in notebooks, most of the time. I put comparisons and such on that page.

I also draw the actual thing I'm brainstorming about on the paper. I split the paper with lines if I need too, but only occasionally have I done that.  

[Xiao Xianyu]

I have a few brain-storming notebooks full of random notes and drabbles from various stories. I've typed others down on notepad and wordpad.

Usually, when it's a real brainstorm, it's whatever's handy. Post-it notes, scraps of paper. Pieces of stories have occasionally ended up on my grocery lists. I try to keep the random scrap sheets with the stories for future use.

I've never been much into map making, or figuring out what my characters were wearing. I have attempted to draw characters or scenery on occasion, but that's about it. And the sketches tend to end up with the stories as well.  

[Lydia Blue]

I once wrote 667 years of obscure history for a country. I don't know why.  

[Lydia Blue]

ColorfulCrayonsOfContent

Lydia The Great

I once wrote 667 years of obscure history for a country. I don't know why.

.... Was that even in the story?

Most of it was completely useless to me.
A small amount was actually helpful.  

[Andirigible]

Lydia The Great

I once wrote 667 years of obscure history for a country. I don't know why.

Sounds like something I would do. Have done. Am doing (but more like many years of history for multiple kingdoms...).

Nonetheless, I am in awe of your ability to come up with 667 years' worth of history. I can't do that...  

[Raincrow]

In 2008 I did a writing prompt-a-day exercise that sort of turned into short bits of worldbuilding and brainstorming, cross-tagged in a livejournal somewhere on the backside of the internet. It's kind of funny to read through some of the prompts (few of which were over 1000 words) and find the roots of important concepts in my story's world.

Generally, though, when I have ideas, I write them down in a brief script-ramble (since most of my ideas are for scenes or dialogue). When I need to brainstorm, I whine at a friend about why I'm having a hard time with [insert aspect of story here], and after a while of trying to explain why XYZ is a problem, I usually have to solution.  

[VenusRain]

While I generally don't do intentional brainstorming (my brain just won't shut up, you see), when i get ideas I tend to do a quick scribble (be it words or drawings) OR I play a scene in them out in my head, unless it's just an idea for a world.

I wish I could focus enough to make a detailed history of my main world, but most of it's kind of vague. Stone age vague. ._.; It's just that making magic systems and special fauna is more interesting, yanno?  

[Glaciofluvial]

Lydia The Great

I once wrote 667 years of obscure history for a country. I don't know why.

This made me briefly wish that Gaia had a like button... then I realized that giving Gaians the ability to like posts might be a bad idea because who knows what the ramifications of that would be.

Regardless, your 667 years of obscure history make me want to give you a medal or something.  

[Amaranthien]

I have a bad habit of doing this but I love to write things that don't take place in the actual story or just plain stupid stuff. Sometimes it's a character study like the one I did yesterday. Other times it's just random crap I do for fun. Sometimes they just pop into my head like I wanted to take my very serious character Liam and have him get caught singing Christina Aguilera's Glamour because it seemed really funny at the time. And I like making serious characters do really stupid stuff.