Brainstorming

First, let me be clear that I don't brainstorm ideas for books, the ideas for the books just kind of arrive in my head. Basically, the main idea is just something I'm interested in. For the Jack Lime books, I started with the idea that I wanted to write a mystery. Another book I've worked on recently was been a zombie story, mostly because I wanted to write a horror. Once I'm thinking about an idea, though, I start developing characters and thinking about the plot. This is where brainstorming starts. I call it brainstorming because that's a term I think everyone is familiar with, but it's really just barfing out ideas. I start with the central idea and then I sit down with a pen and a journal and I just start writing down whatever pops into my head. One idea will lead to another and that will lead to another and so on. I try not to censor myself and go with the flow because that's when really good ideas start popping up. You can't worry about what people will think, or if it's been done before, or if it's logical, or off topic, you just jot things down. I might do that for days without writing anything substantial, or I might do that for an hour and then write for an hour and see what comes out. The stuff I write probably won't end up in the book, but it could be valuable for backstory or helping me learn about the characters or setting, who knows. The point is, during the brainstorming phase you want to let go and allow your imagination to take over. Write down all your crazy ideas, the actual writing can be done later.