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Some Tools I Use in My Writing: A List of Tailored Resources
Some Tools I Use in My Writing: A List of Tailored Resources
Resources
You know the feeling: It was a promising start to your novel or short story. The
premise was great, the characters solid, and then all of a sudden it just kind of
faded. Petered out.
You are welcome to use this list, and of course add to it if you think of other
possibilities (providing you keep me abreast of your developments!). The list has
only begun, and please feel free tp add to it in the comments section.
I assigned each of these states and situations with a number, and used a random
number generator to select them.
Here is the best random number generator on the net:
https://www.random.org/integers/
The next set of variables relates to the entity that causes the situation (lead
character, character 2, the universe, the country, the town, accident, work of
divine power, misfortune), the one who is the recipient of the situation, (character
1, character 2, country, government etc) and extrapolate the actual happenings
from there.
Lets take an example. My main character has an objective to achieve, lets say
she is a doctor and has discovered a cure to a disease which has baffled
humankind for decades. I go to the random number generator and select and
number between 1 and 70, the number of situations I have on my list. The
generator gives me number 40, plotting. That alone gives rise to a number of
situations, but I generate a number for the second set of variables (the causal
agent), and that comes
up as 19, world.
So it turns out that the
world, and I interpret
that as the government
in this case, has been
plotting
against
my
main character from the start. Theyve been tracking her, using her as a pawn in
some way, to get inside her world, or her circle of associates, her fellow scientists.
What do they know? The powers that be feel they can use that knowledge to their
advantage. Perhaps they dont want her to discover this cure because they are
profiting from this disease, and from the medication it requires.
Lets go with another example. My main character is a knight in the service of the
realm, tasked with defending the gates to the realm. He goes out every day to
perform this duty, earns his wage and comes home to support and feed his young
son, whose mother died some years before.
All right, so we have a rich character base, and we are set up for a great story, but
we need to inject an element of uncertainty into the mix. I use the random number
generator, and it gives me the number 13. Gain. OK. Give me the second number.
11: Character 5. This happens to be another knight, who comes and leaves a
pouch of gold in the first knights house every month, anonymously. Why? Perhaps
he is indebted to him in some way, maybe that knight saved his life in battle,
perhaps the knight who gave money wronged the other one in some way in the
past without the other knowing. Perhaps that knight is the younger ones father,
and has kept this secret for many years.
You get the idea. These random event generators are designed to get your ideas
flowing, to throw random situations and characters into the mix, and posit the
question, how would this situation make sense? You, as the author, make it make
sense. They are not concrete determinants, but rather catalysts for creativity.