Brainstorming: Starting with the Back Cover

-By Darren Kehrer-

“Just the facts, please…”

1. When you are browsing books (online or in a store), it’s the front cover that lures you in; however, it’s the back cover that gives you true insight regarding the story. 
2. When it comes to brainstorming your next great story, there are so many ways and tools that can be used to plan, record, and develop your plots, locations, and characters.

I’d like to suggest a new tool for your brainstorming sessions: a merging of both the back cover read and whatever process you use to spin ideas. I call it, “The Backside Tale Spin.”

Permission granted by Rick Barry

Directions: Take a story idea that you’ve been working on and write the back cover.

Although you may be feeling this puts the cart before the horse, this kind of exercise serves to get a bird’s eye view of the beginning of your story and potentially lays out the “shiny gold objects” that causes that intrigued browser to develop an interest in your store. 

While this method wasn’t used in Rick Barry’s, “The Methuselah Project,” such a wonderful story would have been a great candidate for this exercise. 

In summary, this is a very simple tool that can be used many, many different ways to help you brainstorm your next great story. Give it a try and let us know how it goes.

-D