Presented at the 2019 Sleuthfest conference in Boca Raton, Florida Brainstorming is more than just a jump-start of inspiration. It can help you: --explore alternatives for your plot --develop your characters more deeply --make sure you don’t miss an opportunity to tell your story a different way AND the audio of this 90-minute brainstorming presentation (which tracks nicely with the slide show) is available in MP3 for $5: http://vwtapes.com/brainstorming-mp3sleufest2019.aspx or CD for $10: http://vwtapes.com/brainstorming-cdsleufest2019.aspx

1. Don’t Miss a Thing
Brainstorming the full potential of your
story, your characters, and your plot
Vincent H. O’Neil (aka Henry V. O’Neil)
www.vincenthoneil.com

2. Mystery and Horror as Vincent H. O’Neil
The Frank Cole / Exile Mystery Series
Supernatural HorrorTheater Mystery Mystery Anthology

3. Military Science Fiction
as Henry V. O’Neil
www.vincenthoneil.com

4. Purpose
Brainstorming is more than just a jump-
start of inspiration. It can help you:
• explore alternatives for your plot
• develop your characters more deeply
• make sure you don’t miss an opportunity
to tell your story a different way
Brainstorming is an ongoing process

5. Outline
• Standard brainstorming
• Brainstorm the “Who” and “When”
• Ask “Why?” and “What if?”
• The High Points
• The Jump Start

6. Benefits of Brainstorming
• Even if you have a full-blown story in your
head, ready to be written, take the time to
brainstorm it
• Brainstorming lets one good idea lead to
another
• It really pays off

7. Standard Brainstorming
• Write phrases and words on a sheet /
sheets of paper in random order
• Jot down everything that comes to mind,
no matter how irrelevant it might seem
• Don’t try to connect the ideas yet

8. Brainstorming for Inspiration
Let’s say you haven’t chosen a topic for your work
What interests you / what do you like?
What’s currently on your mind?
Write it all down

9. Story Inspiration Example
Write down everything that comes to mind
Turn the paper as you write, to keep ideas separated
Pottery Murder Mysteries
Cars
Jack &
Jill
Romance Novels
Sunny beaches
Sports
Ham sandwich

10. What Grabs You?
Does one of these ideas interest you more than the others?
The reason doesn’t matter
Pottery Murder Mysteries
Cars
Jack & Jill
Romance Novels
Sunny beaches
Sports
Ham sandwich

11. Brainstorm That Idea
Write the topic in the center of a new page and then
brainstorm around it—in this case, you’re considering
possible story ideas based on the Jack and Jill rhyme
Quest tale?
Action / adventure?
Human interest?
Mystery?
The
Jack & Jill
Rhyme

12. Develop the Brainstorming
Expand on each idea
Quest tale
Action / adventure
Human interest
Mystery
The
Jack & Jill
Rhyme
Accident
No other sources
of water?
No adult supervision
Rescue
Why did they
BOTH fall?Who sent them?
What ELSE is
up the hill?
Orphans?
Race against time

13. Brainstorm Each Development
What would Jack & Jill as a quest tale suggest?
Obstacles
Stakes
Inciting IncidentMission
Jack & Jill
as a
Quest Tale

14. Brainstorm Deeper
Obstacles
Stakes
Inciting incidentMission
Jack and Jill
as a
Quest Tale
No
other sources
of water?
Why did they
BOTH fall?
Who sent them?
What ELSE is
up the hill?
Sets everything
in motion
Race against time?
Why a pail?

15. • This is a motivational poster generated by artificial intelligence
• Although it’s not very motivational, it does apply to brainstorming
• At some point, you will end up deleting quite a few of your ideas
• Follow your instincts and let the brainstorming guide you

16. Follow Your Instincts
Obstacles
Stakes
Inciting incidentMission
Jack and Jill
as a
Quest Tale
No
other sources
of water?
Why did they
BOTH fall?
Who sent them?
What ELSE is
up the hill?
Sets everything
in motion
Race against time?
Why a pail?
Jack and Jill as a
HORROR story

17. Restart the Brainstorm
Jack and Jill
as a
Horror Story
No
other sources
of water?
Why did they
BOTH fall?
Who sent them?
What ELSE is
up the hill?
Race against time?
Is the pail significant?
Why is it just the
two of them?
Is it a monster?
Jack badly injured
Jill stays with him
Is anyone coming
to look for them?

18. Brainstorm the “Who” and “When”
Create a matrix to see who does what—and when
It can suggest missing pieces and alternative actions
Monday Morning Monday
Afternoon
Monday Evening
Jack Asked Jill if she
would go with him
to fetch a pail of
water
Went up the hill
with Jill. Fell and
hurt himself
In the hospital
Jill Agreed to go with
Jack
Tripped while
running for help
Explained what
happened
Characters
Time
Missing from
original story

19. See Who’s Missing
What characters should be added to the story?
Monday Morning Monday
Afternoon
Monday Evening
Jack Asked Jill if she
would go with him
to fetch a pail of
water
Went up the hill
with Jill. Fell and
hurt himself
In the hospital
Jill Agreed to go with
Jack
Tripped while
running for help
Explained what
happened
Doctor Seeing routine
patients
Summoned by Jill Treated Jack
Characters
Time

20. What’s Being Overlooked?
Review the actions assigned to each character to see who’s
underutilized—it might suggest good plot changes
Monday Morning Monday
Afternoon
Monday Evening
Jack Tells Jill he’s been
sent to fetch a pail
of water
Went up the hill
with Jill. Fell and
hurt himself
In the hospital
Jill Felt Jack should
not go alone—it’s
dangerous
Gave Jack first
aid; fell helping
him down the hill
Explained what
happened
Characters
Time

21. Who’s Missing NOW?
Review the changed story to see if it needs another new character
or additional plot development
Monday Morning Monday
Afternoon
Monday Evening
Jack Sent to fetch a
pail of water
Went up the hill
with Jill. Fell and
hurt himself
In the hospital
Jill Felt Jack should
not go alone
Gave Jack first
aid; fell helping
him down the hill
Explained what
happened
Villain Sent Jack to get
the water knowing
it was dangerous
Dismayed Jill
went along and
might talk
Went to the
hospital to learn
more
Characters
Time

22. Ask “Why?” and “What if?”
Using these two questions while
brainstorming can help you:
•create a plausible storyline
•develop your characters more deeply
•explore alternatives for your plot

23. Why Ask “Why?” and “What if?”
No matter where you are in your story—
early brainstorming or actually writing:
Ask “Why?” to ensure your plot, characters,
and story make sense
Ask “What if?” to mine the potential plot
twists and character traits your story
contains

24. Example
• To demonstrate these techniques, I’ve
chosen Thomas Harris’s 1981 novel The
Silence of the Lambs
• I have no idea what process he followed to
develop this masterpiece, but its storyline
and characters are excellent examples of
“Why?” and “What if?”
• WARNING: Some spoilers follow

25. TSOTL Was Highly Original
• The FBI’s profiling department is helping
in the hunt for an active serial killer …
• By consulting with the convicted serial
killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter …
• Using an FBI trainee

26. “Why?” Makes Sure It Makes Sense
• The FBI’s profiling department is helping
in the hunt for an active serial killer …
No need to ask why
• By consulting with the convicted serial
killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter …
Why? Lecter is a brilliant psychiatrist who has “helped”
them before
• Using an FBI trainee
Why? Lecter has toyed with (and endangered) other FBI
agents; by using a trainee the FBI leadership hopes to
trick him into helping them catch the active serial killer

27. “What if?” Explores Possibilities
• Trainee Clarice Starling has the necessary
intelligence and education
What if? She is also carrying deep-seated childhood
trauma that explains her joining the FBI, and Lecter finds
this intriguing?
• Starling is sent back to see Lecter more
than once
What if? Starling confronts her FBI boss about the real
reasons she’s being used—and this leads to her
inclusion in the hunt for Buffalo Bill?

28. “What if?” Can Provide Plot Twists
• Lecter cooperates somewhat, while prying
into Starling’s psyche
What if? Dr. Chilton, the psychiatrist running the institution
where Lecter is being held, wants the celebrity of helping
catch Buffalo Bill?
• Chilton cuts a deal with Lecter, but on
Lecter’s terms
What if? Lecter has been withholding key information from
Starling and is planning to leverage what he knows about
Buffalo Bill to get a better deal from Dr. Chilton?

29. “What if?” Can Fill Out a Character
• Lecter later offers Starling a key clue—but
only if she reveals her secret
What if? Starling’s childhood trauma is so tied to her desire
to save Buffalo Bill’s latest abductee that she feels
compelled to answer Lecter truthfully—knowing it will
give him leverage over her?
• Starling deciphers Lecter’s clue about
Buffalo Bill
What if? Starling has to go after Buffalo Bill alone, if she’s
to save his latest victim?

30. The High Points Approach
High points can be sequences that:
• elicit emotion
• take the story in a different or unexpected direction
• resolve the central conflict (the climax)
High Points
Beginning End

31. Start With the High Points
If your brainstorming took you immediately to the big moments in
your story, run with that. Perhaps even write those parts.
Imagine these key points of your story as the high ground in an
area inundated with water. As you imagine the story around those
high points, the water recedes and reveals more detail.
Visible
High Points

32. As you consider the events that could generate the high points,
the rest of your story begins to emerge.
While the biggest high point (the climax) generally occurs near the
end of the tale, that doesn’t mean the rest of the story lacks big
moments—don’t be afraid to add them.
Ask “why?” and “what if?”
Lead-Up to the High Points

33. After you’ve developed a complete storyline, make sure that the
portions connecting the high points make sense, mesh with the
big moments, and keep the reader’s attention.
Make Sure the Story Flows

34. The Jump Start
If you’re really having trouble getting an idea, try this:
•Think of a phrase that might work as a slogan, or as a
movie tagline (for example, the movie Alien’s tagline: In
space, no one can hear you scream)
•Keep it simple
You run—you die
Trust no one
Beware the perfect plan
Make your own luck
Stay in the light
Your mileage may vary

35. Brainstorm Each One
Pick one, and ask questions about it
You run—you die
Strange predator?
Local saying?
Is it all a lie?
DO you die?
Annual competition?

36. Explore the questions you’ve raised
You run—you die
Strange predator?
Local saying?
Is it a lie?
Annual competition?
Toxic environment outside a
certain boundary?
Survival race?
Can
be
outsm
arted?
Escape is good?
All-night hunt?
Actually an
advantage to run?
Lacks one of
the 5 senses?
Communal safety rule?
Develop the Ideas

37. Pick the parts that work for you
You run—you die
Strange predator?
Local saying?
Is it a lie?
Annual competition?
Toxic environment outside a
certain boundary?
Survival race?
Can
be
outsm
arted?
Escape is good?
All-night hunt?
Actually an
advantage to run?
Lacks one of
the 5 senses?
Communal safety rule?
Follow Your Instinct

38. Research as Inspiration
• The Complete Idiot’s Guides
• YouTube (how-to’s, interviews,
documentaries)
• Online imagery (Google, Bing, etc.)
• Keep your mind open to what these sources
are suggesting to you

39. Conclusion
• Get an idea by brainstorming deeper and
deeper
• Review your characters’ assignments to
see if anyone’s underutilized
• Ask “Why?” to make sure the story makes
sense
• Ask “What if? to mine potential plot twists
and character developments

40. Mystery and Horror as Vincent H. O’Neil
The Frank Cole / Exile Mystery Series
Supernatural HorrorTheater Mystery Mystery Anthology

41. Military Science Fiction
as Henry V. O’Neil
www.vincenthoneil.com