For writers
Brainstorm stories that surprise you
A good premise is rarely the first one. Type a character, a setting or a what-if, and Ideaful branches it into directions that stay close to what you meant and directions from somewhere else entirely, so you find the version of the story only you would tell.
Try it free. Your first spark needs no account and no card.
What it can look like
Type “a town where nobody lies” and the ideas around it can look something like this. (An example, written to show the idea, not a recording.)
Close to what you meant
- The new mayor can't campaign honestly
- A detective with nothing to interrogate
- Courtship without white lies
From somewhere else
- Poker as the only dangerous game
- A translator who softens what people say
How you'd use it
Merge two plot threads into a third, or let a reader, an editor and a skeptic say where the idea falls apart before you've written chapter one. When one holds up, Brief writes it up on a page.
Spark a what-if
Even a fragment is enough: a character, a place, a line of dialogue. Close ideas extend it. Far ones borrow from genres and worlds you weren't thinking about.
Merge threads that don't fit
Got two ideas you love that won't live in the same story? Merge them and see what story needs both.
Review before chapter one
Critics play the reader who gets bored, the editor who's seen it before and the skeptic. Research can check whether the premise has been done, and Brief gives you a one-page pitch to keep.
Questions
Does it write my story for me?
No, and it's built not to. It gives you directions and pushes back on them. The writing stays yours.
What if my premise has been done before?
Sometimes it has, which is what Research is for: it checks the web for who got there first and how it landed. Often the answer is a twist on it, and the far ideas are good for finding one.
Can it use my own notes?
If you keep notes in Obsidian, connect your vault and ideas build on what you've already written. It's read in your browser and never uploaded.