How to Brainstorm for a Novel

Novels can spring from nearly anything. You find a character that you just can't get out of your head and they start telling you their story, or maybe you asked the famous "What if" question to form your concept. "What if queens ruled, and not kings?" or "What if apes ruled the Earth?" Or maybe you thought up your novel based on culture and setting. However you got the idea, now you need to brainstorm. Just follow these easy tips to brainstorm either your newest novel or the one you've been working on for a while.

Instructions

Setting

1. Open an empty Word document or get out a piece of paper. Write "SETTING" on the top of the page.

2. Start with the big picture. Understanding your setting can help with your overall plot and with any subplots you have going on. Write down where on the planet or planets (if you're writing science fiction) your story takes place. Make sure to note down anything that is specific to that portion of the world. Example: "Idaho, United States, Potatoes, Desert, Mountains and Hunting." These are items that you might be able to add to your novel.

3. Move to the smaller scenes. Now that you know where in the world your characters are standing, you can look into the immediate surrounding areas. Write down these areas to look into. For example, you may have terms such as "Agriculture," "Housing" and "Major Landmarks."

4. Write down what applies to your book. In our example, it should look like this: "Agriculture--cattle and potato farms"; "Housing--higher elevation means they have mostly peaked houses due to snow in the winter"; "Major landmarks--Snake River Canyon."

5. Take this sheet and go through your manuscript (if you already have something written), highlighting anything that looks out of place. If you can justify the issue, then make sure the reader can understand it. If not, you may need to edit and fix. If this is for a book that you have not fully written, then keep this sheet to the side of your desk as a reference.

Character

1. Section off a new page between your main characters and your antagonist. You can do this by folding your sheet of paper or inserting lines in the empty page.

2. Under each character, write down their greatest fear. Once you have identified that fear, explain it. Why does your character fear this, how do they deal with it in daily life and where in your story will they be confronted by it.

3. Write your character's most irritating trait. Once you have identified this, write down which other character in your story this irritates the most.

4. Write your characters' goals. Note which other character's goals in your story conflicts with the main characters' goals.

Plot

1. Imagine your book like a trailer for a movie. Write down the most important aspects of the book, the tantalizing parts that would make us want to read it.

2. Keeping the trailer in mind, bring out another piece of paper or Word document and section it out into three parts: beginning, middle and end.

3. Under "Beginning," write down the three major things that happen within the first 50 pages of your book.

4. Under the portion titled "Middle," write down the five major things that happen after the first 50 pages of your book and before the last 50 pages.

5. Under the portion titled "End," write down the climax of your book and the very last scene.

6. Keep this sheet nearby as a reference while you are writing.

Tips & Warnings

• Brainstorming can include finding the perfect soundtrack to listen to while writing your novel.

• Start with your main character and build a family tree. You can be as detailed or as vague as you want, just remember that these are people who would have some effect on your character's life and personality. You might even find that some of the characters jump into the book itself.

• Build a family tree for your antagonist as well. Do not neglect him/her! Without your antagonist, you really don't have a story to tell.

• If this is your first draft, do not get so focused on brainstorming that you forget to write your novel!