I just found a creative writing site with an automatically generated writing prompt for short stories and poetry. The primes is to randomly generate words, ideas, and/or concepts as a springboard for writing. It’s supposed to be especially good for writers experiencing writers block. Now, that sounded like something I can use so I clicked on the Story Starter link. I found a pretty good description of how the process works and noted that they have a contest for those that use the random story starter they are given. Well now, that’s an added plus or minus, depending on the outcome.
I decided to go ahead and see what the story starter would generate for me. Here is the story starter: My main character/protagonist is a female. My main character is a C.E.O.. An archetype present in my story is Nymph. A key object or symbol in my story is a coffin. My story will be set in a laboratory. My story is about self-expression.
Nymph, coffin, C.E.O.??? I’m doomed. I know nothing about C.E.O.s, nada, zero, zilch. And nymph? What’s a nymph? I know I should know, I think I know, but do I really know? So, I get my trusty dictionary out and look it up.
Nymph: 1. any of the minor divinities of nature in classical mythology represented as beautiful maidens dwelling in the mountains, forests, trees, and waters 2. a) a lovely young woman b) maiden: literary or playful usage 3. Entomology any of various immature insects; especially : a larva of an insect (as a grasshopper, true bug, or mayfly) with incomplete metamorphosis that differs from the imago especially in size and in its incompletely developed wings and genitalia.
Okay, I did know part of the definition but not the insect part. Hummm, that could be interesting; an insect nymph that isn’t lovely but rather deformed. It could be symbolic somehow. I’ll have to give it some thought. Maybe I can find a way to write a short story from this starter after all.
Check out The Art of Writing, even though the site has not been updated since the winter of 2000, there are other writing tips and techniques worth exploring.
Update! Unfortunately the site referred to in this posts is no longer online so I’ve removed the live link. I’ve added more writing prompts in my resource directory. The link is below.
Look for more writing prompt resources under Writing Exercises in my Writing Resource Directory.
This sounds like an exercise I used to give the students in my Marketing Commercial Fiction course. I’d give them a couple of characters and a situation: aggressive alpha-male business dude has to get to the airport to make a pitch to a critical financial supporter. Power outage has crippled transportation. His new, rather nervous secretary has a gift for making friends with people.
Given this situation, how does she get him to the airport in time?
I’d give my students 30 minutes to write a scene that conveys all this information–that the guy is a bit of jerk but basically OK, that the girl is a problem-solver and people person.
They’d be appalled to find that in 30 minutes they could crank out 500 words of pretty competent writing, dramatizing these two people and solving their problem. So if they could write 1000 words an hour, why couldn’t they write an 80,000-word novel in two weeks?
Well, I can’t do it either. But even long-distance runners can sometimes sprint when they have to.
I think doing writing exercises like this is much easier in a classroom situation. Well, easier may not be true but the student has to be accountable to the teacher for what they do or don’t do with their time in a classroom. They have an added incentive to do the writing. Being a part of a writing group might offer the same incentive as a classroom. I’ve never joined a writing group. I can be good at self-motivation but I can also be good a procrastination. Part of the reason for creating this blog was to address my procrastination issues and to self-motivate (inspire) myself to take action. Is it working? Well, I am writing. Maybe not what I desire to write about but I do have to write to keep this blog updated.
Thanks for taking the time to offer this information. It very generous of you.