Sharing few brainstorming tips

I had read somewhere that Rowling had spent five years brainstorming the Potter series. In those five years she brainstormed each and every aspect of the seven books, did loads of world-building and made plot outlines for the series. No wonder then, the world was left spellbound by her books. I was mesmerized by her eye for detail.

Though I do brainstorm for my books (as I write fantasy) I don’t spend years or even months brainstorming, because if I don’t start writing, I develop the itchy hands syndrome. I need to write the story and side by side, I brainstorm. It may come across as a strange method, but it works well for me.

I am sharing a few brainstorming tips that work for me.

   1.  Protagonist. We can create unique characters by giving them a distinct personality or traits, or even a quaint way of talking or a different way of dressing. Unusual, individualistic and strong protagonists help stories. The protagonist can have unheard of hobbies ( like collecting lizard’s tails, wings of a butterfly) habits, interests, their choice of a career can be off the beaten track, they can have weird friends and fetishes, they can suffer from strange physical or psychological maladies, or they can have social inhibitions that prevent them from forging  strong relationships and friendships.

   2. Setting. An original and unusual setting hooks readers. There are several things we can add to settings: strange people, customs, habits, food, fauna and flora, animals and birds, rituals, way of talking and dressing, way of communicating, way of travelling, strange objects that belong to that period of time.

  3. Antagonist. The amount of attention we pay to the protagonist, atleast half the amount should be paid to the Antagonist, as he/she drives the conflict and provides tension. The antagonist should be given a literary makeover: he can be different from the antagonist haunting every other book. Antagonists should be powerful to be able to attract the reader’s eyeballs. We can give the antagonist plenty of qualities that will make him/her stand out: a sensory highlight where one of the senses is more powerful than the others, a cruel streak, a revengeful nature, a petty way of thinking or getting even, or a wicked sense of humor. Maybe we can make them megalomaniacs.

   4. Conflict. We can add unique obstacles and problems for a gripping conflict.

   5. Resolution. Happy Endings are important to give readers a sense of redemption. We can twist this by making endings happy but unexpected: the protagonist has reached his or her destination in an extremely unstereotypical fashion. The reader should be literally taken not just by surprise but also be rendered a pleasant shock at the way the story has been resolved.

Do you all spend a lot of time brainstorming your books? Have you got any brainstorming tips for us?