B-Random #1: A Fun Story-Creating Challenge!

B-Random: Where I write about whatever I feel like!

Feel like working out your brain and having fun at the same time? Read on and get ready to hash out a story that unravels as read along with the instructions! Simply read the directions for step-by-step instructions. Pencils/fingers ready!


You'll need: 
This page open along with a writing program on your computer (Notepad, Word, etc.)
*Note: this game may only be playable from your desktop

Instructions:


Step 1: Create the main character

Go ahead and highlight one of the grayed-out areas (one only--no cheating!). Next, either memorize the revealed character or copy and paste it into your own document.

1. Peter Kipper - doctor, divorced from his wife who is in prison for murder
2. Andrea McCauffer - a ballerina with a broken foot
3. Max - a green alien who is stranded on Earth after a bad landing
4. Henry O' Connor - a rich millionaire with a gambling problem
5. Lisa Lowry - a slightly overweight woman with a foot fetish
6. Rowan Jars- a monkey who is soon to be sent into space
7. Lucky Harris - a girl with the worst luck in the world
8. Ernie-O - a rapper with a speech impediment
9. AJ-1234 - a robot who wants to be a human
10. . Melissa G. Hawthorne - an aging model 


 Step 2: Choose your setting

Do the same as you did before in Step 2!

1. A tropical island
2. A crowded subway
3. A shopping mall
4. A space shuttle
5. A noisy school bus
6. A haunted building
7. A zombie-filled city
8. A popular nightclub
9. A plane without parachutes, ready to crash
10. A hospital room


Step 3: What's going down?

You know the drill, people!

1. Someone's been murdered!
2. A dance-fight has been initiated!
3. Our protagonist is in love!
4. They have discovered they have secret children!

5. The world needs saving!
6. They run into a handsome man! (or a pretty woman!)
7. Their cell phone just died!
8. A zombie-apocalypse has occurred!
9. Life has lost all meaning...
10. They are giving birth!


Step 4: And who's there to help our protagonist?


1. A cop with no gun (and no badge)
2. An angry dog
3. A chatty best friend
4. A wealthy genius with money to waste

5. A spoiled pop star
6. A group of school children
7. A nurse
8. A blind prophet
9. A rude waitress
10. A mopey cat


Step 5: Now, put it all together!

This is the challenge step! Try to put all four of these steps into a short story. It will most likely be hard (for example, I got an alien on a crashing plane with a dead cell phone and the only people to help him are a group of school kids), but I bet you can do it! Give it a go and have fun with it. :)

If you're interested, here's a bit of what I came up with on mine:

Max squeezed his eyes, all three of them, shut and then opened them again. He did this once more before covering his mouth with one of his slimy, green tentacles and drawing in a deep, ragged breath.
This can't be possible, he thought as terror began to override his mind. I just got out of one crashing object and now I'm on another one! The humans were in a panic, running along the aisle and shouting words like "Parachute!" and "There are none!"
 A small, fleshy hand tapped Max on his shoulder. He turned around in his plane seat and came face to face with a small version of a human being. This one had a brown, sweet-smelling substance smeared around it's tiny mouth and something peculiar and quite icky dripping from it's nose.
"You look kind of sick, dude. You're all green," the small human said as it swiped at it's running nose.

 Haha! Terrible, I know, but I wanted to give it a shot. You can really get some weird/funny combinations on here! Let me know how yours goes.

-Bootsie

How to: Get an Idea for a Story!

If you've never written a story before, or even if you've written a million, sometimes you just have trouble thinking of an idea that you want to put into words. If you're like me, your mind is all over the place and you have a hard time reeling in your brain to focus on one thing at a time. Read on for a few tips to at least get a jump start on your story.

Getting an Idea

Wait! Before we jump into anything, you need an idea first, right? Here's a quick list of things that you can do that just might give you the inspiration to put that pencil to the paper or your fingers to the keys.

1. Listen to music
2. Take a road trip
3.  Take a long walk
4. Visit a national park
5. Watch the clouds
6. Take a long walk
7. Relax on the beach
8. Watch people (sounds creepy, but you can spot some really interesting people around the way that could inspire a character for your story)
9. Read poetry
10. Read a book

Try all of these and you might just get a light bulb over your head!

Genre

If you simply just can't get an idea, don't feel discouraged. Here's a more step-by-step procedure of finding an idea. 

Do I want my story to be a beautiful romance with a little horror tossed in? Or maybe an urban fantasy with plenty of vampires and a modern day twist? I usually don't stick my story in a genre until after I've written the first few chapters, but selecting a genre earlier could help you set the direction you want for your story. Try pulling up a list of genres and going through them one by one. There will be a few that stand out to you. Once you've selected a genre (or two), try taking out a sheet of paper and jotting down the first words that come to your mind after reading the genre name. Here are a few examples:

Genre: Chick Lit

First Words That Come to Mind: girly, shopping, cute guys

Genre: Crime
First Words: murderer, detectives,car chases, guns

Do those groups of words sound interesting to you? If so, grab another piece of paper and pencil and start writing down some ideas. Then, read on for the next step in completing your idea!

Plot

Got your ideas down? Good, 'cause now it's time to start getting into the nitty-gritty! That's right--it's plot time. Now that you have a genre or at least an idea of the direction you want to head in, it's time to start thinking. Let's just say you decided on the Crime genre. You saw the words and just got really excited! 

Ready for more hands-on? I am!

Take out some more paper or pull up Notepad because we're about to get into this. Look at the words that you wrote down and read them over carefully. Now, try to write down a quick plot, incorporating the words you jotted down earlier. Here's an example:

Genre: Crime

First Words: murderer, detectives,car chases, guns

Quick Plot: A psychopathic killer is reeking havoc and spreading fear throughout the town of Bearsville. Only Detective Rawr will be able to stop this murderer. His only tools? His trusty tricycle and water gun. Time is against him...

Okay, so that wasn't the best plot, but you get the idea. If you chose more than one genre, do the same thing for the rest of them. Try coming up with more than one storyline for each separate genre. When you're done, you should have a nice list of story lines to sort through.

Characters

Now, for my favorite part--creating the characters for your story! Usually, I begin with the protagonist, build the characters around him, and then move on to the antagonist. We'll start with the protagonist first. Consider the following:

1. Male or female?
2. Personality?
3. Background?
4. Family?
5. Friends?
6. Appearance?
7. Flaws? Why and how?

Once you've gone through the list, you should have a pretty well-rounded character. As I write, my characters usually grow with me, so maybe you'll find yourself doing the same. You can go through this same list for each of your characters. This is just a basic list so feel free to add more detail!

Once you have these things down, other aspects, such as setting and a deeper story, will fall into place. Remember, don't stress about yanking an idea out of thin air. It will come to you!

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!
Bootsie