Games for Writers

 Here are a few games you might enjoy that helps writers come up with ideas, to break the writer’s block issues, and should spark some creative juices;

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The Storymatic includes two sets of cards that when put together randomly sparks potential stories and ideas. You could also collect your own and start your own deck of cards to build ideas.

 

Rory’s Story Cubes comes in various types from adult to even children’s versions. The concept is similar, except the dice rolled include pictures. You can lay them out in a plot, or use the cubes as the elements of a story such as characters, theme, conflict, and so forth.

 

The Amazing Story Generator is not so much a game but does something similar as the story cubes. Instead of pictures or cubes, you get a flip book broken up into three sections to randomly pick elements of a story. 

You could also use the card game Munchkin to provoke ideas for storytelling, in particular, fantasy, role playing type stories.  Draw cards to add characters or story elements.

 

Iphone, Android, and tablet apps also offer some fun prompts. I use Writing Prompts for the Iphone to randomly view prompts, scenes, even pictures. You can then save to favorites.  You can also add your own prompts as inspiration hits you.

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Some writing activities:

I decided to post some ideas to get the creative juices flowing for those of you who might be a bit stuck;

Use the following picture to practice writing about the senses. Imagine yourself diving in the water, and describe the experience. Use all the senses.

Source: online.wsj.com via Sharon on Pinterest

 

Consider the following quote on the idea of writing about things that scares you. This means you explore your phobias, innermost fears, nightmares, and darker aspects of yourself.  I have a fear of something happening to my son, so I might write a scene about a parent dealing with a lost child. It would be tough, but the idea is that you delve into what makes us human, and share that in your writing. (you can also add a happy ending later on)

Source: dawncamp.bigcartel.com via Sharon on Pinterest

 

Use the Snowflake method to brainstorm ideas. This can be fun in coming with new ideas. Start with a single thought, and start expanding in all direction with new ideas by using word association. For example, I might start out with dragons, which reminds me mountains, which makes me think of ice (and York Peppermint patties), and I also think of fire breathing, scales, armor, and flight. From each of those ideas, I can expand. With flight, I think of floating, falling, soaring, spaceships, eagles, a kite, a blimp… it goes on and on.

When you’re done, you can end up having a page or two on ideas. You can also use entire sentences if you want.

And keep writing!

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Writer’s Tip for blocks

I happened upon this tip from io9.com that offers the idea of stopping mid-scene. This means you’re not riding the tide of creativity until completion, but deliberately leaving it hanging with the idea that you’ll dive right back in the next day.

I’m not sure if I can even do that. There’s something addictive to writing as much as I can while the muse fairy is with me. When words just flow, I want to stay until I’m tapped out.

My concern would be ‘what if I stop, and that nice flow simply isn’t there the next day?’. Would this tip mean you get in a better habit of writing, or perhaps it naturally sparks the muse in a more natural way? I’m too afraid to try.

So what are your thoughts? Do you think you’d try it? Post in comments.

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Derp moments in writing

To me, the true bliss of writing happens when the words flow, and sentences just pour out of the creative nether. This, however, has not been happening for me. I will try to articulate a scene, only to find myself stuck on a word, phrase, or simply unable to describe something.

So here are a few things I do to help through those moments;

Write anyway, even if the sentences are choppy and reminiscent of a third grader. You can fix it later. The important tip here is to get the scene out. Sometimes writing through blocks such as this type, you can write through to the other side and find the creative muse.

Listen to music. Music offers to stimulate parts of the brain the mundane life doesn’t. I find certain types of music help provoke emotion or scenes in my head much like a movie.

Keep a thesaurus on hand. I have a button on my browser toolbar to use Thesaurus online; that way I can look up words quickly. It includes a dictionary as well.

Change up your storytelling. You can do this by using dialog to tell a story, descriptive scenes, action scenes, or other elements of storytelling. If one method doesn’t work, try another. For instance, a character having internal conflict reveals this through dialog, or through acting out to another character.

What are your own little secrets and tips to working through those derp moments? Post in comments.

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The muse versus the ‘inner editor’

Sometimes I wonder if the creative muse isn’t related or another shade of the inner editor, being two sides of the same coin.

The creative muse comes and goes as she likes, inspiring in not just plot, characters, or ideas, but also the word flow and the crafting of sentences into eloquence.

The inner editor, on the other hand, sits regularly at your shoulder, pointing out mistakes, nags to correct or make changes, and hacks away your confidence.

I think the muse bubbles up from the left/creative part of the brain, while the inner editor lurks at the right/logic side of the brain. If only we could provoke the muse as much as the editor.

What are your thoughts? I understand some writers just ignore the editor, and have no use of the muse. I can write without her, but its not as enjoyable.

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Stuck in a Skyrim Beam

I got the video game, Skyrim, for my birthday, and it didn’t come out until November 11th. I’ve been caught in its captivating allure ever since.

I’ve played the other games in the series, Morrowind and Oblivion, which both offer compelling storytelling and gameplay. That’s where I started writing in fanfiction, through those games, and which prompted me to put myself out there.

I was surprised with the amount of feedback, where readers loved the stories, the characters, and even voiced how it changed their gameplay. One review said “Though I haven’t nearly finished this story, I have to comment- wow. This is awesome. This is the way Morrowind should be written, as an epic adventure with a bunch of intricate plot twists, two fascinating characters, and a little romance.” And its those type of reviews that prompted me to continue the story to 150,000 words.

I didn’t know it was that long, or even planned the story to go for so long, but the responses from readers certainly prodded me to write more, and often.

Now that I’m playing Skyrim, I feel as though I’m back in this beautiful world with compelling stories and interesting plot. You can actually read books in the game. You can talk to NPC (non-player-character) and learn about the lore and history of this imaginary world. You can tell the game developers put so much effort into the game.

As I remind myself today, however, I need to put myself on a timer when I play, so it doesn’t take me away from ‘real life’. My son likes to say ‘real life- worst game ever!’. I think its because of all the limitations…and inability to respawn or take chances where if you screw up you can simply reload.

So back to reality…

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