My writer friend and I do something similar as a warm up - we write a bunch of words on post it notes (the rule is write fast and don't stop to think!), shuffle them together and draw out at random three each for the following categories; "Someone", "Wants", "Needs", "What's in their way". Then we try to create a narrative out of it. I'm not saying we always create gold (though we've generated some interesting ideas) but it's a great exercise and a good way to get our minds ready for some serious writing.

I'm genuinely interested, can you recommend a few books that would be a good starting point? Thanks!