Preptober: There’s No Such Thing as a Bad Idea

Letting go of your ego and learning to tell a story

Introduction to Preptober Series

This month at Building a Novel is all about NaNoWriMo — more specifically, how to prepare for it and what you need in order to start a novel. We’ll look at your premise, characters, beat sheets, subplots, and how to decide if an idea is ready to be written over the course of this month.

Before we get into the technical elements, though, I want to talk a little bit about brainstorming. Brainstorming can feel a little… weird. “Okay so what if I have, like, this guy, right? And he’s a farmer. BUT. He doesn’t know he actually has a twin sister! And they’re the children of this queen and also an evil magician. OH! And what if they fought with these cool space swords?! But he’s going to need to train… maybe with a little green puppet who’s super old and talks with weird grammar? Let’s do it!”

Out of context, without worldbuilding, ideas can seem odd and disconnected. Your idea that seemed cool in your head might feel silly when you explain it to your friends. But there are no bad ideas, and brainstorming is a vital part of any creative process. Let’s look into it a little bit.

Why Prepare if Things Will Change?

If you’ve followed this Building a Novel publication at al, you’ve probably noticed the number of times I’ve talked about changing my mind. I meticulously plan something out, and it doesn’t work. Why prepare at all, then, if even what you prepared doesn’t work?

To take a first step

Science backs up the idea of the terrifying blank page. It’s scary to get started. The idea of going from perfect idea to imperfect execution is terrifying even in the best of situations.

By giving yourself permission to start with brainstorming, you can break the blank page without having to worry about the perfect first sentence, the right first chapter, or even the names of the characters. Brainstorming can look however you want it to: a list, a mind map, paragraphs, notes, drawings — I’ll even give you playlists and aesthetics and vibes for this first step.

After all, have you heard the analogy of the boiling frog? You can’t boil a frog by putting it in hot water. But you can if you turn the water up little by little from cold to hot.

Tiptoeing into projects can work the same way.

To figure out what doesn’t work

Sometimes when you’re brainstorming, you’re going to get stuck. It’s going to seem awful, and you’ll realize that you can’t have both X and Y in the same story; they’re mutually exclusive.

You have to start over — or at least scratch out a few ideas to find ones that do work.

Here’s the thing though: sometimes that happens mid-draft. Especially if you didn’t take the time to think through ideas first. Scratching out a few paragraphs of “what if”s is a lot less work than rewriting an entire draft that had that idea as its underpinning.

Get the bad ideas out first. Write them out. Figure out what works and what doesn’t, and you’ll have a lot more of a chance to finish the project once you start.

To unstick

Brainstorming isn’t just an activity for the beginning of a project, though. It’s also my go-to technique whenever any part of the writing process gets hard. When I need to write a scene, but I’m not sure how. When I want to plan out several possibilities for a scene sequence to decide which one is best. When I need to know backstory for a character.

I return to word-vomiting in any form that fits the problem, until I can solve it, make a plan, and get back to writing. It always takes less time than when I force myself to put words on the page without brainstorming first — especially when I’m stuck.

Finding What Excites You

Brainstorming is defined as “the mulling over of ideas by one or more individuals in an attempt to devise or find a solution to a problem,” if this idea offputs you, I see writing brainstorming as something as simple as analyzing several possibilities to figure out what excites you.

Personally, thematic resonance excites me. Symbols excite me. Kissing scenes excite me. The moment where the characters finally tell each other how they feel excites me. Susan Dennard calls these moments her cookie scenes — treats to look forward to in the writing process. Finding them ahead of time is like keeping a cookie jar on the counter.

This is especially true because cookie scenes need to be created, and no one provides you the recipe. Brainstorming gives you a chance to figure out what kind of cookies you want to make, and the ingredients you’ll need to get there.

What kind of love interest will best push your main character so we can get to that kissing scene? What symbols best match the theme I want? Am I doing grumpy/sunshine? Grumpy/grumpy? How will those dynamics tie in to the cookie scenes? Answering these questions ahead of time gives you a plan, and if you’re excited about your plan, you’re likely on the right track for the story you meant to tell.

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