Examples

Using IdeaBank to Create Details

You'd like to write a story set on the high seas. You need nautical vocabulary. 
Typing the word "boat" into the IdeaBank displays the following in the alphabetical index:

boat
boat accident
boat bumper
boat camping
boat cover
boat cruise
boat deck
boat dock
boater (hat)
boathouse
boat hull
boating
boating law
boating party
boatload
boat neckline
boat operator's license
boat parade
boat people
boat rod (stiff fishing rod)
boat safety
boat slip
boatswain
boatswain's whistle
boat theft
boat trailer
boatyard

Choosing "boat" displays the subcategories:
Varieties/Examples
People/Animals
Things/Places
Parts/Materials (of watercraft)
Abstractions/Intangibles
Verbs
Activities/Events/Processes
Descriptors
Miscellaneous

Choosing "Varieties/Examples" displays:
rowing boats
sailboats and sailing ships
motorized watercraft
military watercraft
famous boats and ships
miscellaneous watercraft
supplies and equipment
famous sailors

Choosing sailboats and sailing ships, then parts/materials (of watercraft) displays:
accommodation ladder
aft sail
alarm (warning device)
aluminum (common metal)
anchor (device restricting motion)
anchor chain
anchor chock
anchor fluke
anemometer (wind gauge)
antiaircraft gun
armor
automatic pilot
ballast
balsa wood
batten
beam (structure)
bell
berth (sleeping space)
bilge
bilge keel
bilge pump
billet
boat bumper
boat deck
boat hull
boiler
boiler room (steam boiler room)
bottom (bottom side)
bow of a boat
bow stabilizer
brass
brig
bulkhead
bunk (sleeping place)
cabin (on boat or ship)
cable
cannon
canvas cloth
capstan (ship's lifting device)
captain's table
caulking compound
centerboard
chain
chart house
chock (deck or wharf tie-up device)
cigarette hull (boat hull)
cleat (fastener)
clew (metal loop)
cockpit
companionway (ship's stairway)
compartment
conning tower
console (unit)
cover (lid)
crow's nest
cubicle
daggerboard (movable centerboard)
dashboard
davit (ship's lifting device)
deck chair
diesel engine
dining room
door
engine
engine room
escape hatch
ferro-cement
fiberglass
fighting chair (in sportfishing)
figurehead (on ship)
fire door
fishing-boat well
flight deck
floor
foghorn
fog lights
forecastle of a vessel
furniture
gaff (sail spar)
galley (kitchen)
gangplank
gangway
gauge (measuring device)
grommet
gunwale
gyrocompass
gyrostabilizer
halyard (hoisting ropes/tackles)
harpoon fluke
hatchway
hawsehole
hawser
head (toilet on boat or ship)
helm
hose
hull (frame)
hydrophone
inboard motor
inboard-outboard motor
infirmary
inside cabin on a ship
Jacob's ladder (ship's ladder)
jib (triangular sail)
keel
ladder
lever
lightning rod
lounge
machine gun
magazine (explosives storage room)
main deck
mainmast
mainsail
marine engine
marine paint
mast
masthead of a ship
navigation lights
nonskid surface
nuclear reactor
oarlock
observation chamber
outboard motor
outrigger (projecting support)
outside cabin on a ship
paddle wheel (on a boat)
passageway
periscope
pilothouse
pipe (tube)
Plimsoll mark (boat load-line mark)
pontoon
poop deck
port (left side)
porthole
propeller blades
propeller shaft and blades
prow of a boat
public-address system (PA)
pulley
pump (device/machine)
quarterdeck
quarters (lodging)
radar
radio antenna
radio compass
railing
ramp
ratlines (horizontal rigging/ropes)
rigging
rubber
rubber bumper
rudder
running lights on boat or plane
safe (container for valuables)
safety rail
sail (thing)
sailcloth
scull (oar)
searchlight
seat (chair/place to sit)
ship library
ship's bell
ship's bridge (command center)
ship's broadside
ship's deck
ship's railing
ship's wheel
showboat stage
shroud (ship's rigging)
sick bay
siren (warning device)
skeg
smokestack
smoking lamp
sonar (sound navigation and ranging)
spar (support)
spinnaker
spiral staircase
spoiler (fin or plate to affect airflow)
spotlight
stairs
starboard (right side)
stateroom
steam catapult on aircraft carrier
steam engine
steam turbine
steel
steel plating
steerage
steering wheel
stern (rear end of a ship)
superstructure
swimming pool
teak (wood)
throttle (thing)
tiller (handle of boat's rudder)
tire
topsail
torpedo-tube door
tower
treenail
turret (gunner's enclosure)
upper berth
upper deck
wardroom
warning light
watertight compartment
watertight door
watertight hatch
wheel house
whistle (shrill noisemaker)
window
winged keel
wood
yardarm

This is the result of one of 775,000 direct associations you can make with IdeaFisher.  
Even more importantly, you can now take any word generated, double-click, and walk 
back up a completely new hierarchy of categories -- a process that lets you create a 
never-ending loop of new associations and ideas. 

Clicking on "yardarm" in the list above led in two steps to:  

barkentine (sailing vessel)
catamaran
catboat
clipper ship
dahabeah (Nile houseboat)
galleon
hermaphrodite brig
junk (ship)
ketch
pirate ship
proa (Malay sailing boat)
sailboat
schooner (sailing ship)
sloop
Spanish galleon
trimaran
windjammer
Windsurfer sailboard

No More Writer's Block! 

Story Generation Using Compare Topics

You'd like to generate some ideas for a story set on the high seas. 
You tell Compare Topics to compare "boat" and "disaster." It generates:

Activities/Events/Processes
boat accident
shipwreck (disaster)
flood (event)
hurricane
storm
tsunami (tidal wave)
typhoon
windstorm
cabin fire (on airplane or ship)
engine fire
explosion
hijacking
oil spill
ship or boat fire
war

Miscellaneous
Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill, 1989
sinking of the Andrea Doria, 1956
sinking of the Titanic, 1912

People/Animals
Bligh, Captain William
boat people
castaway (shipwreck survivor)
dolphin (sea mammal)
firefighter
Kelly, Shipwreck (Alvin Kelly)
Noah
Popeye
Robinson Crusoe
shark
Titanic survivor

Things/Places
airplane
Atlantis
bathtub
beach (sandy shore)
Bermuda Triangle
binoculars
compass
current (flow of water)
dam
darkness
Davy Jones's locker
desert island
diving bell
escape hatch
Exxon Valdez
fire
flotsam and jetsam
fog
fog lights
fusee (red flare)
heavy equipment
iceberg
ladder
lake
lifeboat
life jacket
life preserver
life raft
Noah's Ark
nuclear reactor
nuclear weapon
ocean
oil slick
pollution
ration (food for one day)
rescue locator unit
river
rope (strong cord)
searchlight
shipwreck (remains of wrecked ship)
sinking ship
siren (warning device)
spotlight
stairs
submarine
Titanic
toy (plaything)
water
water pollution
wave (water swell)

Abstractions/Intangibles
anxiety
cost
courage
safety (security)
speed (rate of motion/rapidity)
superstition
vision (sense of sight)
water safety
zero visibility

Verbs
abandon a sinking ship
bump into
burn (verb)
capsize
collide
commandeer
conquer
crash-dive
damage
drag river or lake for a body
drown
escape
explode
explore
fall down
fall from a mast
fall overboard
fear (be afraid of)
hang on to an overturned boat
jettison
jump overboard
lower the lifeboats
navigate
overturn
pray while going down
protect
radio (transmit/receive)
ram (drive into/hit violently)
rescue
run aground
run over
sabotage
salvage
scrape (scratch/rub harshly)
sink (verb)
slip (verb)
swerve to avoid hitting
take a spill
wash ashore

Activities/Events/Processes
accident
adventure
attack (physical/verbal assault)
blockade
death (event)
disaster
disaster investigation
drunk boating
emergency
engine failure
fire drill
marooned on an island
race (competition)
rough seas
rough water
scuba diving
signal (indication/sign)
swimming
tragedy (event)

Descriptors
adrift
cold (temperature)
dangerous
jerry-built
last to abandon ship
lost at sea
marooned
overboard
safe (descriptor)
upside down
wet

Miscellaneous
Man overboard!
Mayday! Mayday!
Rats desert a sinking ship.
SOS!
U.S. Coast Guard
Women and children first!
Wreck of the Hesperus, The
Wreck of the John B, The

Finally, you use the Randomize command to mix these phrases together 
in a variety of sequences. Then you compare the topics "love story" and "tragedy." 
After 20 minutes, you come up with an idea for a tragic love story that unfolds 
around the sinking of the Titanic.