The Amazing Story Generator

[Addison]

I came across this book today and highly, HIGHLY recommend it for everyone.

"The Amazing Story Generator".

Nice sized book with three sets of cards, (top, middle, bottom) which can be flipped around to a random, insane story prompt.

For example, "On new year's eve, a sassy nun, kisses a best friend's husband."

There's millions of possibilities with this book!

 

[ALB2012]

I think I have heard of that one before. Thanks for reminding me.

Sounds a bit light fighting fantasy of a sort

 

[skip.knox]

Sounds more like MadLibs for fantasy writers. While could be a fun exercise to create!

 

[Spider]

I have that book! It's loads of fun. Here's one: With only a week to live, a disgruntled nanny, plans the perfect murder.

 

[CupofJoe]

Here's one: With only a week to live, a disgruntled nanny, plans the perfect murder.

I'd read that book... as long as the nanny was a goat...
I have a box/book "Story World". It's a sort of cross between Tarot and flash cards. There is a detailed image on one side and prompts on the other [usually short rhymes]. You pick 1-2-3 cards and build a story using the images on the face and or the rhymes on the back. There are several expansion packs [different theme - there is an aquatic one].
The book explains the meaning of any symbolism, reveals the "hidden clues" or what the images may mean in a story [river - journey, reflection, water life, decisions, change... you get the point] and gives you an idea on how to build, grow and tell your story. It's not a bad book for just learning how to write...
I think it was developed for helping children's creativity [not that I've noticed any lack...]. I tried using it in a long abandoned collaborative project with an artist.
I still look at the cards and might get them all framed one-day.

 

[Etna]

Sounds like it could be applicable to the background stories and adventures of non-protagonist characters. I'll check it out, thanks! :biggrin:

 

[Scribble]

Something I have toyed with is the I Ching. There is an online I Ching site I find quite useful:

http://www.ichingonline.net/

In the story I am developing now, I have two long time partners, Raziel and Siuran, who have been estranged for several years while Raziel was on assignment. Raziel is from a low class family but has risen to high regard in the emperor's service as a hunter of mythical creatures, while Siuran is high born but has achieved only middling respect as an alchemist. Raziel left arrogant and cold, now returns, humbler and world-worn, hoping to rekindle the old comeradeship. I puzzled over how things would go, as each maintains an old idea of the other, though it had been seven years.

On a lark, I consulted the book of changes.

"What will happen between Raziel and Siuran at their meeting?"

I cast the coins (virtually by clicking) and received this reading:

Wei Chi / The End In Sight

Fire ascends above the Water:
The Superior Person examines the nature of things and keeps each in its proper place.

Too anxious the young fox gets his tail wet, just as he completes his crossing.
To attain success, be like the man and not like the fox.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Resist the rush to completion.
Anticipation of fulfillment may callous you before you have fully absorbed the lessons of the journey.
The endpoint of this Quest will only prove to be the threshold for another.
You are short steps from Mastery on this plane, yet you stride toward Ignorance of the challenges lying beyond.
Savor this accomplishment.
Fully Become.
Take full possession of your world before embarking to discover the next one.
That voyage begins soon enough, and you will reminisce about this one.
These are the Good Old Days.

It made me think - Raziel is still impetuous, and has not fully absorbed the lessons of his journey. He presumes much and moves too fast, assuming that Siuran will see the change in him and accept him. Siuran will take the job with Raziel, if only to change his situation which has become stale, but he is not ready to accept Raziel as a friend again. Too much transpired, and still Raziel focuses only on his own change and how that should make him once again worthy of Siuran's regard. But the truth is that he puts no interest in Siuran's change, and that was the seed of Siuran's issue with Raziel. Raziel thinks only about Raziel, everyone else is either helping him on his path or in the way of it. Raziel has grown humbler, but still places himself above all others. He remains arrogant, only in a different way. Siuran is the hero of his own story, not the sidekick of Raziel's.

This little I Ching exercise helped me to flesh out some of the relationship between these two people, and helped me realize more of Raziel's arc.


To the pair, I add a new member to the team, a little unwilling on Raziel's part, the addition of Alia. She is a priestess of the goddess Lydea. The new emperor has decreed this will be the official religion of the empire. Part of their mandate is the eradication of the old religions, worshippers of spirits of nature (mythological beasts). Raziel's mandate as a slayer is to help with the clean up of a recent occupation of a fallen neighboring kingdom where these old practices remained. Raziel is in fact reluctant. He expected to return and retire, which was the promise of the old emperor, but the new one has other designs. Things have changed in Corium since Raziel was last there. So, he takes the job (no real choice), but he must take with him this priestess. This makes Raziel uncomfortable, as the old magic is outlawed, but it is the only tool effective against the old myth beasts. Raziel believes he will be killed when he has completed his task. (this suspicion also serves as a future conflict with Siuran, that Raziel used him, and put him in peril callously).

So, how does the initial meeting with Raziel and Alia transpire?

I had some ideas, but let's consult the I Ching!

"What will characterize the initial relationship between Raziel and Alia? "

Ta Yu / Great Treasures

The Fire of clarity illuminates the Heavens to those below:
The Superior Person possesses great inner treasures -- compassion, economy, and modesty.
These treasures allow the benevolent will of Heaven to flow through him outward to curb evil and further good.

Supreme success.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

You have become an instrument of Heaven's will, offering a balance in the world around you.
It is not swashbuckling prowess or uncanny talent that qualifies you for this office, but your simplest gifts -- your modesty, your compassion, your economy.
Because you can see clearly who most needs a miracle, Heaven's bounty is being put at your disposal.

This inspired some thoughts. Alia possesses a great peaceful wisdom. She disdains the use of magic, but sees this as dogmatic. It is the intention that matters most, not the means. That they are doing the will of the goddess is of ultimate importance. It is not the skills of Raziel she admires, but his determination. Raziel may be doubtful of many things, but Alia has a great certainty in the idea that they are moving towards a destined future. Raziel resists this idea, yet finds himself unable and unwilling to argue against some of her ideas that he feels are "fabricated by the priests and priestesses". The entire relationship is dominated by the force of her belief. Wherever she looks, she sees the hand of the goddess moving things. Raziel's view of things is much more material than hers. He sees the the world as nature's forces and randomness coming up against the desires of humans moving things.

(Raziel has a secret that is unknown to him, and this way of believing ultimately expresses that secret.)

Things will change between these characters as I work on the story. There are many other characters in the story, but these are my main POV characters.

The I Ching, whether you believe in it or not, can be a useful tool to help inject ideas into your story.