The Art of Brainstorming | Furthermore July 2025

The art of brainstorming (or when the ideas just won't come)

Hello from the Washington coast!

Today I’m writing to you from the Washington Coast. I’ve spent the last week out here, and it’s been absolutely lovely and so very needed. I’m between deadlines right now, and it has been so nice having time to rest and recharge and daydream. Especially daydream.

You know those writers who seem to have hundreds of ideas, who will never live long enough to write them all, who know what they want to be working on years in advance? That’s not me. Not at all. Most of the time, I think to myself how nice it would be to have so many ideas to choose from, but I’ve never been that way (and I’m starting to think I never will be).

I’m a one-idea-at-a-time kind of writer. I spend a lot of time brainstorming ideas, and once I land on one, I’m all-in. That does provide me with a kind of focus that I love—I don’t have the “shiny new idea” problem where I feel a pull to work on something other than what I’m working on—but it also means that I’m constantly worried that my current idea will be my last. I’m learning to let go of that fear since it has never been right before, but it still feels a little uncomfortable not knowing what comes next.

It's almost as if my brain needs permission to daydream and think about new ideas, which it doesn’t get when I’m already immersed in a project. Once I finish a book, though, my brain starts wandering, and I’m free to coax it along until I land on the next idea.

Because of this, brainstorming is a critical part of my process—and one that I love—so I thought I’d share a bit about how I go about it.

When I’m in between deadlines or have finished a book, it’s time to start thinking about the next thing. To do that, I grab a notebook, curl up in a comfortable chair with coffee or tea, and get to work.

I start by making a list of things that I love and/or would love to write about one day. My list includes some more general things, like: ghost stories, a haunting, vampires, sister stories, and marriage of convenience to name a few. I also include smaller things, like: love interest has to carry main character, dancing with an enemy, getting caught in a storm, and ballgowns. I don’t overthink it—anything that pops into my head, I add to the list.

This exercise works best for me away from my computer, handwriting in a notebook. Because I only ever handwrite during brainstorming, it seems to be a cue for my brain that we’re in idea-generation mode (and it just feel like a treat to curl up somewhere other than my desk).

As a side note, I always have a list going of the things that I love because it isn’t only useful when trying to come up with a new idea, but it’s also incredibly helpful during drafting and revision. Is there a scene you wrote that just isn’t working for you? What if you threw in something from your list, like the love interest carrying the main character or the enemies having to dance?

Okay, back to idea generation. Once I have my first list, I make another list of things I’d love to see more of, like: main characters in college, friendship breakups, and books that include a couple coming out of retirement for one more ____ (job, kill, heist, etc). These things exist in plenty of books, of course, but I’d love to see them in even more.

Once I have my lists, I stare at what I’ve written and see if anything can be combined: a story that follows twin sisters as they go off to different colleges, vampires in ballgowns, a ghost-hunter couple coming out of retirement for a particularly eerie haunting. From there, it’s me scribbling down idea after idea, drawing arrows and circling words, even things that at first thought feel totally ridiculous. It’s a place to dream, to follow winding paths and see where they lead. Over hours and hours of doing this, my notebook starts to look completely unhinged, and that’s a good thing.

Me, going over the pages and pages of my brainstorming notebook

I do this until I write down something that I keep coming back to, when instead of generating new ideas, I start daydreaming about ways to expand one specific idea. When this happens, I write down every single thing that comes to me, from little details I could add to big plot ideas and character arcs. Once I have it all down on paper, it’s time to decide if that idea is big/full enough to fill an entire novel. For me, that means getting out the Save the Cat! beat sheet and seeing if I can create a cohesive plot out of everything I’ve written down.

It usually takes me anywhere from a couple weeks to several months to land on what I want to write next, but the point is that I always find that next idea. It just requires a little coaxing to come out of hiding. And typically, it’s fun, an absolute blast to sit down with a notebook and just let your mind wander and daydream and follow “what-ifs”. I love it. So while I wish I had the security of knowing what comes next, I adore the process of discovery.

I can’t wait to meet my next idea.

In Case You Missed It

Today is the last day of the Barnes & Noble preorder sale! You can get 25% off (plus another 10% if you’re a premium member) forthcoming books when you use code PREORDER25 at checkout.

I’ve received several questions about whether The Sun and the Starmaker will have a special case design, and while I can’t reveal details just yet, I can tell you that it is truly the most beautiful book I’ve ever seen. If you would be sad to miss out on the deluxe first-print edition (which I can’t WAIT to share with you), I highly suggest you preorder to ensure that you get it! Here’s a small teaser of what we have in store for you. 😍

I am truly obsessed and can’t wait to share the whole glorious design package with you!

Is it a color endpaper? A stenciled edge? Perhaps a case stamp? Who is to say? 🤔

A Moment of Gratitude

I’m grateful for nature and places I can go to be still, especially the Washington coast. Last November I began working with the doctor who would ultimately get me healthy again after my concussion (more on that some other time), and he put me on a very intense daily program of exercise, physical and vestibular therapy, and social exposures in busy environments. Because of that last point, it was difficult for me to visit the coast given how rural it is, so I wasn’t able to get out here while I was doing that.

I’m so grateful I’m here now, and more than that, that the program worked and I’m here feeling well and healthy. It is such a gift, and one I hope to never take for granted.

Thank you so much for being here.

Love,

Rachel

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