For Rune Skelley, most brainstorming happens after there’s already some kind of idea in place. We use it to give shape to the clay, to get from the initial weird image or abstract notion to a narrative, and find the ways our multiple weird ideas can connect. The ideas themselves are usually found things in Kent’s or Jen’s minds. They can be discrete, like a name or a personality quirk, or they can be broad, thematic.

We do not, so far, have a shortage of weird things volunteering themselves for consideration, and we’ve learned to be more patient about chasing after them. Our first novel’s struggle from its early drafts to its current polished state left us sadder but wiser. We’ve been there, we know how it is. Sometimes an exciting idea can be too intense to keep inside, or you might be afraid it won’t be there later. It fills you with urgency to write, which is a good thing. Use that energy, but don’t lunge right into prose. That’s what notebooks are for.

Or conversation. Sharing the idea with your writing partner is often synergistic. You might hear in their response a whole new reason to love what you’ve come up with. Or, you might hear why it’s best to just walk away from some of them. That kind of answer is a gift, too. It lets you move on to the next, better, idea.

It’s often said “there are no bad ideas when you’re brainstorming,” but with a writing partner you can toss out that patently false axiom. That rule is meant to make shy people feel emboldened to speak up in front of a group, which shouldn’t be applicable in a writing collaboration. You can’t be shy with each other, or pull any punches. One of the best things your partner can do is challenge an idea with which you might be infatuated, not to shoot it down but to flesh it out. Helping you find new angles to look at it from.

Solo brainstorming pushes you back toward the “no bad ideas” rule, which means you know your list contains bad ideas. If you don’t have a full-time writing partner, at least get a brainstorming buddy.