I thought it might be useful to share some tips on how we generate ideas for our stories/books/songs, or whatever it is we are writing.  I use a few different methods such as:

1.  Lists

Sometimes phrases or sentences, or even a good line of dialogue might come to me when I'm doing normal things like feeding the cat or something. I write this down as soon as I can, and keep a long running list of all of these very useful snippets for one of those "dry days" when nothing seems to be forthcoming.

2.  Attribute changing

I read about this one on the internet some time ago - and I quite like this little exercise.  If you're struggling to gain a perspective on a particular problem you're writing about, try changing some of the attributes.  For example, how you would view this situation if you were a different gender, age, religion, nationality, etc etc.  It's helped me out of a spot on a few occasions. 

3.  Random thinking

This is my favorite exercise to do.  When you're out and about take note of something you see that you either really love, hate, find funny, or seem puzzled by.  Just write down what the object is, and describe its shape, color, style etc etc.  Then, think about building a story around that object.  For example, I once had a really lovely weekend bag that I used regularly, and everyone always used to say how much they liked it.  One day I found myself sitting in a quiet train station with this bag next to me on the platform seat.  I started thinking about how many different trips I'd taken with this bag, what I've carried in it (clothes for weddings, clothes for a funeral, etc etc) and what I would do if ever it was stolen with all of my things in it.  What would I have in it on the day it was stolen?  Where was I going on that particular day?  You can see where I'm going with this. 

These three simple exercises have helped me at some point or another, in tackling particular scenarios in my writing.  I hope they might help you too, and please share some of your own solo brainstorming ideas too.   

Though not quite brainstorming, I'll carry a notepad with me in which I write anything that I think is interesting. Later, when I have more time, I'll look at whatever I've written and see if I can work any ideas out into a short story.

That's really all I do... I find it much easier to brainstorm with someone else!!

Zikkled (02:41am Thu, Aug 21, 2014)

Though not quite brainstorming, I'll carry a notepad with me in which I write anything that I think is interesting. Later, when I have more time, I'll look at whatever I've written and see if I can work any ideas out into a short story.

That's really all I do... I find it much easier to brainstorm with someone else!!

It took me a long time to get used to doing it on my own too - I had never thought of it as a solo activity until quite recently.  But I have found it a very valuable day to day exercise, especially on those days when I can't seem to construct anything that makes any decent sense! 

Carrying a notebook around with you would probably be my number one piece of advice - I'd hate to be caught out without one.   

First, I consider the general shape of the story. That might be too abstract to write down, but is it going to have a genre or crossover genres? Does it have more heart, like rooted in a personal experience or belief that has got to come out? Or is it all spectacle and what if this cool thing happened?

Secondly, I try to get a sense of where it's thin or has gaps. One, I know the plot and playing characters of, but isn't rich enough in worldbuilding. Another has great characters and I'm inspired when it comes to the setting but it has no denouements to the plot. Another has a full plot but not enough character development--but can't combine with the other one that has no denouement, drat it.

With worldbuilding, I can decide to decide on (for example) a decade in history and research the daily life of specific professionals or those in a social/economic class at that time. Or, if it's not contemporary/realistic fiction, I can wonder about how much it resembled the world I know: physical laws, astronomical setup, social issues, laws...but I try to bring it back to the daily life of a character who would be considered ordinary in this world, and doesn't necessarily have a name or any part in the story, it's just a sort of a "tourist thoughtform" test for how well the worldbuilding holds up.

With characters, I try to spark it off from a character dynamic that I'm familiar with and then make it more original by putting whatever fits in what I know and like from my own personality or people that I know.

I really look up to Joss Whedon when it comes to group dynamics. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly showed a really tight-knit group with different personalities and interweaving dynamics when they played off each other, and I watched one episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and could pick up on  similar types that he likes. That doesn't mean that I'll think, "Ooh, I have to have a sweet nerdy waify girl because Whedon always had a sweet nerdy waify girl or two", it was more the group dynamics that influenced me, like when the group got "new blood" later on a series--what did I miss? Why? What did I like? Why?

So, Whedon is a big influence, and Terry Pratchett for a much wider gamut of characterization and character dynamics. I can also draw on character types from the Commedia Dell'Arte, or make it like a family structure (whether the characters really are related or not) nuclear family with nurturing or commanding parents/providers/guardians, insecure dependents or happy dependents; or an extended family, or a mixed family.

With plots...It's a joke among the fans of this author that I like, Scott Westerfeld, that when he gets stuck on the plot, he just makes something explode. Anything. Any kind of explosion. Just make boom and we're fine. I think I mentioned somewhere else that I (figuratively) have a muse named Awkward. The same element that creates comic timing, I've found, can create enough conflict to get a plot rolling. So, I wonder, "What would be really hilariously awkward to add right now?"

Jill Bearup, a YouTube reviewer, also made the observation that with the October Daye series by Seanan McGuire, the next book in the series changes the stakes, unlike common storytelling advice which has it that we must raise the stakes in order for it to be interesting. There's no template that I've found for the kinds of stakes (yet) that I can like put on a chart and spin around like a Wheel of Fortune at a casino, but either raising the stakes or re-examining who has stake in what happening how...is, I've found, good brainstorming practice for plots.


But all that said: Don't think too much about it. I mean, I believe that a storytelling will always be thinking a lot about all of the above, but not necessarily consciously. So, I might have written a lot of words on it but the process can simply be letting the subconscious do its thing and analyze it later.

EllyMarks (11:51pm Thu, Aug 21, 2014)

.....I know the plot and playing characters of, but isn't rich enough in worldbuilding. Another has great characters and I'm inspired when it comes to the setting but it has no denouements to the plot. Another has a full plot but not enough character development--but can't combine with the other one that has no denouement, drat it.

With worldbuilding, I can decide to decide on (for example) a decade in history and research the daily life of specific professionals or those in a social/economic class at that time. Or, if it's not contemporary/realistic fiction, I can wonder about how much it resembled the world I know: physical laws, astronomical setup, social issues, laws...but I try to bring it back to the daily life of a character who would be considered ordinary in this world, and doesn't necessarily have a name or any part in the story, it's just a sort of a "tourist thoughtform" test for how well the worldbuilding holds up.

I love the way you work, EllyMarks.   

I have read and re-read what you've written and digested it thoroughly, and I particularly like what you say about wordbuilding.  I'd like to try out this particular exercise.  I've usually used phrases or sentences to build stories around, but it could give me a new angle to focus on single words, and build from there. 

I also like your point about letting the subconscious do its thing; so many things come to me when I stop actually thinking about it.  I tend to suffer from over-thinking quite a lot!  Your post has prompted me to try things a bit differently - I'll let you know how I get on.   

Since I usually write about something that happened in my past, or the past of someone I know, I have always done most of the brainstorming alone. I have never even considered just writing a story "from scratch" so to speak, but I can see how it would be difficult to come up with not only the story, but also the characters, and the best setting for the story.
When you are writing about real things, it just needs the basic idea to come into your brain, and then you can start writing about it.
I like to just do things like going for a walk, or working in the garden, and then it seems like my subconscious mind will open up with some new ideas.

In preparation for solo brainstorming, a great thing to do is keep track of things that inspire you. Whether it be words, an image, Windows '98 clip-art...keep it! Keep it in a folder or a drawer or wherever's convenient. And then, when you're feeling stumped or have writer's/art block, pull it out! Look at all these things that have inspired you.

Also, a really good way to clear your mind before brainstorming is by working on another creative project. It can be a silly 2nd grade art project or something, but it still gets your creative juices flowing without you exerting constant energy on a piece of art/writing you're having trouble thinking of stuff for.

I use simple questions, if I have a vague idea for a story but it needs some prodding to get it into shape. I start with the basic concept and then start asking Why, Where, What, How, When. It works for starting a new story and developing the basic plot, or it works for subplots, or characterisation or if I'm a little stuck in the middle of a story as to where it was going.

The best use I have found for it is for antagonists. I know there has to be someone to oppose my main character, but they can't just be Evil Bad Guy #175, so I might ask

"What does he do?" (He's a dealer in magical narcotics)
"Why does his path cross the hero's?" (He wants the hero's land)
"When did they meet?" (They haven't yet, he's been bullying the hero through his henchmen to try and get him to give up the land)

and so on and so forth. Sometimes there's multiple possible answers and I pick the one that seems like it has the most mileage, or would be the most fun to work with. Sometime the answer to one question changes an earlier one slightly. And depending on how big the problem or gap in the story was to begin with, you can end up with a great long chain of questions that you've had to force yourself to find answers to. I find it makes the vague shape of an idea in my head a lot more solid, and then I can go away and work with it.

Thanks for this post! This applies not only when you are writing but even when you are working, too. I always make lists when there is a project that I need to finish. I find lists really helpful.

Brainstorming is sometimes a little difficult for me and I get a block often. I do think that it is a good idea to go outside and explore the world around me where I get to observe people, places and objects that I can use my imagination for. I get home and write an imaginative piece on what I observed and the story of the people that I saw and what I imagine they would be like.

Sometimes, my mind just comes up with stories, even when I am not actively trying. Over-active imagination, I guess.
I will see something that catches my interest, either in real life, or in an article that I am reading, and  the next thing I know; I have a whole little storyline going about whatever it is.
Since I have never actually tried to write a fictional story; these wonderful inventions just go to waste usually.

Other times, I know what I want to write about basically, and then have a hard time getting  the inspiration to put together the actual story. I may know that I want to write in my blog about winters back when I was  kid in the 50's; but I still have to come up with the actual events for the story. 
Then, I have to start a list of how things were different back then, and how I want to fit them into the story.

happyflowerlady (03:40pm Thu, Nov 13, 2014)

Sometimes, my mind just comes up with stories, even when I am not actively trying. Over-active imagination, I guess.

Heh, I know what you mean! It seems a bit ungrateful to complain about too much inspiration, but there are times when the ideas are coming so thick and fast that there's no time to make sense of them, let alone get them down on paper (or screen) and then by the time I do get round to them all I've lost some of the original inspiration. 

MY mind races with ideas all the time unfortunately there are none there that I  can put onto paper. I think I just gave myself and idea!! Going to write now and see how far I get using my crazy imagination for the day. Thank you for giving me the boost people!!