Brainstorming

People like to ask me where I get my ideas. I tell them that ideas come from everywhere, which is true. It's more of a state of mind than anything else -- being open to the ideas that are all around. Still, that's not as easy as it sounds. I've been working on creating a new novel (in my "create" notebook that my sister gave me for Christmas. Thank you dear!) and I find writing down all my potential ideas in one of those "brainstorming" diagrams, where you write down your main idea in the center and then all the ideas that come off of that around it, to be really useful. I started with some of the plot lines I wanted to explore, and then moved on to the main characters. I try to write down everything I think of, even if I know that I don't want to take the story a certain direction. This helps me get out all the cliches and find out what ideas really excite me. If I write down every answer I can think of to the questions, "What if?" and "What else?" I usually find some ideas that work for me. I have to admit, though, that I almost always hit a point of despair, where all the ideas seem boring, and I feel like I'll never get the story off the ground. I've worked my way past that feeling this time by doing research, in this case about fighter combat, and allowing myself to have fun daydreaming about the story. I read the best quote today: "Success only flourishes in perseverance -- ceaseless, restless perseverance." That's from Baron Manfred Von Richtofen.