For a topic, think of things that are related to that topic. For example, if you pick the topic rock music, you might think of musicans, rock songs, it's history, rock magazines, etc., that are related to this type of music genre. You would draw lines leading these subtopics from the circle with the main topic inside. This will help you create a very detail content for your book, including the table of content.
Characters can also be done this way. For example, think of what tone and characteristics you would like the character to have. If your character is happy, put happy in the circle and draw lines of subtopics that are associated with happiness, such as happy people smile, friendly to others, they love themselves, etc.
For a story line or to built on your story. Create a story map or flow chart. These will help you think of what is coming next to give you a rich and detail content or help with the flow or organization of your chapters. It can also be used as an outline to create the entire book. There are some examples below that will give you an idea of what i'm talking about.
Visualize what you want the characters to be and how you want them to act. Tell your friends about what you had visualized . Role play with them or get actors to play out your vision to create a story line by improvising the scenes and recording it, so it can be transcribed . For research, discuss what your are looking for, your findings, and solutions. Create a series of questions for you friend to ask you while recording, so it can be transcribed. This could be the bulk of your book. Take the transcript and edit it by plugging in additional pieces, arranging sentences, grammar, deleting redundancy, etc. Daydreaming or dreaming is also helpful in creating story lines by writng them down. Use real life events by changing the names and locations. All of these can help you create great content or characters for you book fast.
