How to Conjure up a Brainstorm

By Elizabeth Rose

I remember after I finished writing my first novel, I thought to myself that I’d never be able to write another one. I was convinced all my ideas were in this first novel and I could never come up with enough new ideas to write a second.

Well, I was wrong. Even though I thought the well was dry, I realized there is always a reserve just waiting to ‘spring’ forth, but you just have to know how to tap into it. Brainstorming sessions are very valuable to help an author create a new story, a new plot, a new character. So here’s a few tips on how to brainstorm and tap into that creative reserve that’s just waiting to be discovered.

1) Don’t get hung up on trying to find a new idea. First off, you need to realize that there is no new idea, so don’t be discouraged if you’re putting your heart and soul into a unique story with a blue-haired hero who rescues the heroine from a man-eating plant, only to find a book on the shelf before you’re even finished with characters so close you could swear that author somehow stole your idea even though her book was probably finished before you ever started yours. I believe there is a universal consciousness of ideas that we all reach up and pull from, and it’s a big race to see who can get their idea into print first. Try to be as creative and imaginative as you can, but don’t get hung up on the fact it’s been done before. After all, readers never seem to get tired of the marriage of convenience, runaway bride, single father or amnesia. So just try to put a new twist on an old theme and you’ll be fine.

(Note: Of course when I came up with the idea of a hero who turns into a centaur at night for Kyros’ Secret, I knew I had a good chance I’d be the only one with that. Afterward, I did find other romances with centaurs in them, but they were secondary characters and not the hero. Of course, there may be another centaur hero in print that I just haven’t discovered yet.)

2) Find a friend to brainstorm with. It is very beneficial to find a friend or two and sit down with a margarita and just have fun getting crazy with story ideas. You may come up with the idea you want to write about a single mom with a kid, but it may be your friend who suggests you make the hero the father, though he doesn’t know it. When brainstorming with a friend, make certain beforehand it is someone who you know is open-minded and supports you. If it’s someone who criticizes your ideas, she may just bring you down and close off that creative flow.

3) Play the ‘what if’ game. After you have a semi-idea of your plot or characters, ask yourself “what if” this or that happened. Get wild, get crazy. No idea, no “what if” is stupid. Even if it’s the craziest idea and you know it’ll never sell, it may spark light into a character that you had no idea of how to write.

4) Watch a movie. Sometimes the best way to awaken creativity is to watch a movie. A certain character or a certain instance may give you an idea for a character of your own. As writers, we tend to analyze movies even though we only mean to sit down and enjoy them. How many times have you said you would have written it a bit differently? You would have changed a circumstance or made a character more believable by doing it your way. Well, here’s your chance. I’m not saying to rewrite the movie you just saw, but use what you’ve learned to create the best story you possibly can.

5) Reread your own finished works. This may sound crazy, but I found by going back and reading my books that are already in print, or even reading through old manuscripts I’ve written that are under my desk, I trigger off a spark of imagination. When I wrote about the Chicago restaurant owner hero, I may have had a few characteristic traits I wanted to put into my hero, but wouldn’t fit in that particular story. Well, by reading about him again, I may remember other thoughts I had at the time but didn’t do anything with. Stem off your own characters to birth new ones. Maybe even come up with a brother or relative of a character you’ve already written about.

6) Look at a character naming sourcebook. My favorite is “The Writer’s Digest Character Naming Sourcebook” which has a permanent place on my desk right at my fingertips. I find I can’t write without it. Flip through a name book and read the nationality and meaning of a name. Okay, I just flipped it open to a page and the Irish male name “Gall” came up. It means “rooster.” Already there are ideas of a character and his personality zipping through my head. He could have red hair, rooster colored red, he could strut around and boast with pride about everything he’s ever done. He’s Irish, so he could have a quick temper. (So I’ve heard – not trying to stereotype the Irish, so don’t get me wrong.) He could have a lot of nerve and gall. I’d say these characteristics are not of hero quality, so I’d make Gall either the villain or a very pompous and irritating, but harmless secondary character who constantly challenges the hero and places obstacles in his way. A name can tell you so much about a character, so let it!

7) Read a book. Read a book, preferably outside of the genre you are writing so you don’t find yourself copying another author. You may be writing a romance and even read a children’s book and it may spark an idea for a story of your own. After all, there’s always the romance written as the “Cinderella” story where the heroine goes from rags to riches, or “The Ugly Duckling,” where she’s a plain, drab girl who is really a beauty once she puts on makeup and a change of clothes, or even “The Beauty and the Beast,” where I’m sure your hero will always be the beast! (Smile.)

8) Sit and observe. Take a drive somewhere and look at the countryside. Stop at a McDonalds or at a park or even a mall and just sit and observe people around you. Try it. It’s really fascinating. Your mind starts wondering what that person’s life is like, or who the young girl is with that old guy. Or how many of those kids are really hers? Or maybe his? Your mind will start delving in all kinds of directions and before you know it, you’ll have a story. (Even if the young girl is really the guy’s granddaughter, but you’ve conjured them up to be Hugh Hefner and a playboy bunny.

9) Give yourself permission to write something you usually wouldn’t. If you don’t usually write westerns, and really know nothing about them, but you keep having this image of this hunky cowboy and this tom-boy of a heroine, don’t turn it away. Write down your ideas without judging yourself. So what if you don’t know what they wore back in the 1800’s in Texas. Write the ideas first, then if you choose to attempt something new, you can do the homework by doing the research. Sometimes we dismiss an idea that could be a bestseller simply because we don’t think of ourselves as that type of writer. Leave all doors open and all possibilities an option. Don’t close yourself off to an idea simply because you don’t think you’re qualified to write it.

10) Be aware of your dreams. The last thing on my list is to pay attention to your dreams. So many times I write a book based on a dream that I had. Our subconscious talks to us in our sleep and we need to learn to listen. Get up right away when awakening with a dream and write it down. Don’t think you’ll remember it in the morning, because most likely you won’t. I’ve dreamed whole movies before. Write down as many details as you can remember, and during the day if something someone says or does reminds you of something else in your dream – write it down also. I have volumes of dreams I’ve written down throughout the years, and now I take the easy way and put the dreams into a file on my computer.

So next time you are having trouble thinking up the next story, or trying to find the right heroine for your hero, sit down and conjure up a brainstorm. Before you know it, it’ll be raining heroes and heroines.

Elizabeth Rose

Page designed and Maintained by:	©2003 Web Design by Lisa Ramaglia
Web Design by Lisa Ramaglia ~Web Pages at Affordable Prices