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How to Brainstorm a Novel: Helpful Things to Know
Sunfire
CONTENTS
Overview
Every great book all began with one idea. From that one idea came a world filled with its creator’s imagination. Worlds like Middle-Earth and Hogwarts and many others that have become beloved across the globe. And said imagination evolved throughout time, only becoming better and more fleshed out. Just think, it started with how to brainstorm a novel.
Brainstorming a novel is the first major step in the journey of becoming a fantasy author. It is so crucial that how everything that comes after it is dependent on how much you’ve thought it out. Having only a scant details makes the job of creating a novel that much harder. On the opposite end, having too much information can make organizing it difficult and more time-consuming than necessary.
There are different things to be aware of when it comes to how to brainstorm a novel. Do those that work for you, for brainstorming should be fun, not exhausting! This is one of the fun parts of writing a fantasy novel. You’re letting your imagination run free and you should have no restrictions at all.
Brainstorming a novel comes with some dangers. Depending on the idea, brainstorming might lead to a realization that it might be too difficult to create a whole book out of it or it’s so broad that it might be generic. You’ll need to make some adjustments to see if it’s still workable or worse-case scenario, you might have to go back to the drawing board and come up with another idea.
Just like with everything else, there’s some best practices that are helpful in how to brainstorm a novel. They make the job easier but you’re still doing the majority of the work for yourself. After all, it’s all coming from your imagination!
This is the first article in the writing a fantasy novel series. There’s a whole bevy of different articles, all of which can be found on our blog page. Convenient, huh?
How to Brainstorm a Novel: The Idea Stage
So you’ve decided you want to be a fantasy author. Maybe it’s from all the books you read over the years like Lord of The Rings or tv shows like Game of Thrones you watched or something else that motivated you to want to write fantasy. But you’re not exactly sure where to start.
Well, the very first thing to do is to start thinking about what kind of book you’d like to write. Fantasy itself is split into many different categories. Epic, mystery, adventure, and romantic are just a few.
Why is this important? Because each category has its own rules and reader expectations. You wouldn’t read a love story if the book revolved around a murder. In many cases, you can subvert expectations but you have to do so masterfully.
Generally speaking, it’s simpler to write about something you love since you’ll have more fun that way. The same applies to fantasy. Writing a book is already hard, writing about something you don’t necessarily like only compounds it. Let’s make it as easy as you can!
Once you’ve settled on the category, now comes brainstorming. The first step in how to brainstorm a novel begins when you think of something you’d like to write about. It could be the name of character or a storyline you’d like to explore more.
There’s some popular ideas for brainstorming a novel and they are:
- Characters
- Places
- Storylines
- Legendary/Mythical Weapons
Believe it or not, you’re now creating a world! You’re shaping the contours of your world with these ideas. This is an exciting time, for you’re making something that didn’t exist until you started working on it!
Just keep in mind that at this point, many things are subject to change as you develop more of your world. A name for a character that you think is fantastic today, you might change it if you come up with something better tomorrow and that’s okay!
You might come up with a lot of ideas. Does it mean you’ll use them all? Only you can answer that yourself.
Dos and Don’ts of How to Brainstorm a Novel
Brainstorming a novel comes with things that you should do and some you definitely shouldn’t. The whole point of brainstorming is to let your imagination roam where it wants so you have plenty of ideas you can choose from to use in your novel. You want to stimulate your imagination, not stifle it.
One of the best things you can do is to be calm and relaxed. It’s easier for ideas to materialize in your mind if you’re not worried or stressed out. Doing things you love like riding a bike or taking a walk make it easy to think about what you’d like to put in your novel. Some even arise when you’re deep in sleep! Just be sure to have a pen and paper nearby so you don’t forget it!
A thing you absolutely shouldn’t do when brainstorming a novel is to rush it. Hurrying through it means you’re forcing yourself to think of things which only makes it harder for you. You’re not taking the time to thoughtfully develop ideas and concepts to see if they bear fruit which will only hurt you later on. Who knows, you could very well miss out on the perfect idea for your book!
Out of the don’ts of brainstorming a novel, placing limitations on it is among the worst. Limitations like time or how many ideas to come up with harms the creative process. This could lead to ideas or concepts not being fully fleshed out or you lose out on an opportunity to think of something perfect for the book. Try to have as few as possible limitations or eliminate them all outright.
You want to make brainstorming fun. This is a great time to let your imagination run unfettered, which can result in things you didn’t think about before. Do what you can to get these creative juices flowing!
Trying to keep all your thoughts organized during a brainstorming session cuts both ways. On paper, it sounds great since you’d like to make sure you didn’t miss anything. In reality, it can make it harder since you’re so focused on organizing them that you run the chance of missing out on an idea that could be a fantastic fit for your novel. If you opt to keep them organized as you brainstorm, do it in a way that minimizes the potential of losing out on a grand idea.
How to Brainstorm a Novel: Best Practices
Brainstorming a novel is simple at its core. You’re using your imagination to come up with ideas and concepts that you’d like to explore in your book. However, there are things that can help make the whole process easier (and more fun which is what you want!).
One best practice in how to brainstorm a novel is to come up with multiple ideas, not one. What that means is explore as many avenues as you can think of instead of just thinking of one idea and running with it. Not everything that appears in your mind during a brainstorming session is a good idea and you want to be able to separate the good from the bad.
Have a pen and paper or smartphone with you at all times. The worst thing to have happen is to think of something so perfect to include in your novel and you have nothing around you to write it down on. Sure, you remind yourself to write it down later but guess what happens? You forget it and that stellar idea you thought of earlier is gone forever. Don’t let that happen to you!
Ideally, when brainstorming a novel, you want to put everything in one place. Whether it be on your smartphone or the old-fashioned notebook, keep all your thoughts together in one place so you can easily go through later. This makes locating them easier, for you only have one spot to look instead of scouring multiple places that have different information on them.
An important component of how to brainstorm a novel is to fine-tune ideas and concepts. Fleshing them out lets you see if they’re a good fit for your book or not. If they’re too broad, add some specifics to them and vice-versa. You want to write a book with ideas and concepts that you took the time to expand on, not ones you barely devoted much time on which will only make the challenge of writing that much harder.
What if you have an idea you absolutely love but you’re having a really hard time finding a way to make it work? Despite your best efforts, some ideas just won’t work for a number of reasons, one being they might be too narrow to base an entire book around them. It’s time to recognize defeat and move onto more fertile territory. Go with the ones you can easily work with instead of wasting time trying to fit very difficult ones in your novel.
Tying it all Together
Brainstorming a novel is the first vital step in becoming a fantasy author. Taking time to think of ideas and concepts can help make writing a book easier down the road. Think of brainstorming as the seeds and dirt in which your writing flowers will grow and bloom.
The idea stage is merely another term for brainstorming. It is here where you think of character names, settings, and so on. This is the basis on which your book rests, so it’s imperative that you dedicate plenty of time to brainstorm and have fun at the same time.
There are a number of things to keep in mind as you let your imagination run free. The goal is to find ideas you can work with and everything you do here needs to be geared towards discovering them. Do things that enhance your imagination, not hinder it.
The best practices mentioned in this article should go a long way in showing you how to brainstorm a novel. While they lighten your load, you still bear the brunt of the workload. These best practices help you focus on what matters the most: creating ideas and concepts that work for the book you’re planning to write.
Are you ready to begin brainstorming a novel?
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Thanks for reading this and until the next time,
Sunfire
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