Brainstorming

Brainstorming a new book idea is a scary thing sometimes. I'm supposed to make a new book concept appear out of nothing. How do I do this? LOL. Sometimes, an idea pops up out of nowhere, literally--something will strike me in an odd way and I start playing the "what if" game...what if this happened, or that happened?

Sometimes though, I have to force Inspirado to visit me. I try to think of elements I like in stories and see if that jars anything (e.g., fish out of water). I dig through old ideas and see how to revamp them into something useful.

Right now, I'm spending time doing a weird mix of both. I want to find just the right ideas to give to my editor and agent, ones that they'll think are super cool. It's a fine balance, trying to take the advice of the people you work with, but still please yourself--not that my agent or editor are difficult or anything. They actually rock super hard and have been crucial in my career and writing growth. And I love having them filter my ideas because it's important for me to know what they, as industry pros, consider to be salable, unique, interesting concepts.

Therefore, I'm trying to take my time and come up with some good ones.

So, are you a brainstormer? Do ideas spring into your head fully formed? How do you get ideas--for poems, stories, novels, paper topics, anything? I'm always eager to learn new methods. LOL