Hello, SEers! It’s Mae in the wheelhouse today with some handy tools to spark your creativity.
Let’s face it—every now and then we get a little burned out with our writing projects. Okay, maybe more frequently than we want to admit. It’s not that we don’t love writing, or working on WIPs, but sometimes drafts, edits, deadlines, and promo can take their toll. It’s nice to be able to reset the writing muse with something different.
When it comes to exercising your body, the key to avoiding plateaus is to mix up your routine. The same holds true with your mind and your muse. With that said, here are a several tools you may find useful—and loads of fun—when you want to set high intensity writing aside and play with creative prompts. (Please note: I have no personal, business, or financial interest in any of these. I just happen to find them excellent resources).
STORY SPINNER
By Bonnie Nuebauer
A two-sided wheel, this wonderful gem has been around for a while. There is a free online version, or you can purchase a handheld spinner. I bought mine years ago. You use the front half of the wheel to spin a “recipe” for your story. Once you have the components, you flip the wheel over and follow the recipe prompts to determine the elements you’ll use. I think the online version doesn’t provide as much variety, but it’s still fun.
A CREATIVE WRITER’S KIT
By Judy Reeves
A dear friend of mine gave me one of Judy Reeves’ kits years ago. We shared a mutual love of writing and books, and as she is no longer living, I treasure this. There are two parts to the kit—colorful cards that provide tips on craft, and a book that offers a different writing prompt for each day of the year, broken down by month. The book also has blank pages in the back with inspirational quotes, giving you a place to let your muse run rampant.
THE OBSERVATION DECK
By Naomi Epel
This is also a two-component set. Naomi pairs a book of tips, exercises and writing mojo from experienced writers along with colorful flash cards that provide writing prompts. As an example (below) I drew the card open a drawer.
THE STORYMATIC
There are a number of different ways to use this one—from writing to games, to impromptu theatre. The classic approach (as shown below) is to draw two gold cards, blend them into one character, and then draw two copper cards for use in the story. You can, of course, use these in any method you choose. The combinations are endless and a great way to get your creative juices flowing!
Are you familiar with any of these resources? Have you used any before? Who knows… one of these prompts could spark your next story. 🙂
I’d love to hear your thoughts, and perhaps which one you find the most appealing. Drop a line and get chatty in the comments below. Ready, set, go!
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Fascinating stuff! I didn’t know these things existed, although I should have expected someone to produce something of the kind. I should get one, I suppose…
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Given your stellar stuff, I don’t know that you need one, but they are a lot of fun to play around with now and then.:)
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Great idea generators, Mae! I have the Creative Writer’s Kit, but I haven’t used it–yet. I have a tendency to do mental ‘what ifs’, and sometimes I get ideas from stuff I see every day. One day I went for a walk during my lunch break and saw a motorcycle parked at the building next door. Motorcycle, meh. The little garden gnome strapped to the back, a spark of an idea! Like, a gnome named Nome Alaska. And he would have to have friends with names like that, right? I spent the rest of the walk coming up with a story for him 🙂
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Julie, I love how your creativity took off with that little gnome! Sometimes the ideas that reach out and grab us in the moment make the best story fodder.
I remember laying in bed one night and dreaming up a story around an old west town. It was so vivid, I was certain I would remember it in the morning. Evil creatures stole it away because come morning, I couldn’t piece it back together. I still can’t!
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I use the Observation Deck ❤️ I love how the cards envoke another layer of creativity.
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Hi, Marion Ann! It’s fabulous to meet someone who is using one of these. I love the creativity aspect too. I haven’t used my deck in a while, but writing this post made me want to start playing around with the prompts again.
Thanks for dropping by to share with us!
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Reblogged this on Archer's Aim and commented:
Rev-up your creativity with these fun writing-related items suggested by Mae Clair on Story Empire.
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Thanks, P.H.!
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You bet.
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I have many more ideas than I have time to write them down so I haven’t had a problem as yet, Mae. Maybe in the future when I have more time to write it will not have ideas and then I will try these ideas.
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Sounds good, Robbie. They’re good for writing exercises too. I think it’s the bane of all authors that we have too many ideas and not enough time!
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Reblogged this on DSM Publications and commented:
Check out these fun tools to engage your creativity from this post on the Story Empire blog
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Thank you, Don. I hope your readers find a few of these to their liking 🙂
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You’re welcome.
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Awesome share, Mae! I haven’t used prompts, but plan on it. Good intentions + these resources = hopeful outcome. 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing!
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Thanks, Natalie. Prompts are fun and great for inspiring creativity. I hope one of these appealed to you!
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I used to use a tool like these to create writing prompts for my students when I taught a creative writing class. They always kept me entertained with their creations. 🙂
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That sounds like fun, Yvette. And I bet it was rewarding to see all the variations your students came up with. I bet your class was fun!
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I loved teaching that class. Unfortunately, it was cancelled once testing students became more important than teaching students. 😥
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So sad 😦
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Yes, it is, but I have faith that the pendulum will swing back to authentic learning. I just hope it happens soon. 🙂
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These do look fun! Much better than the grim old newscasts that I use for inspiration, lol
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LOL! Well, I guess there’s something to be said for them too, Jacquie 🙂
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I’ve never tried a story prompt, and I’ve never heard of these. A friend of mine gave me dice and a book a long time ago. I don’t even think it has a name. It was fun for a group of us to sit around, drinking coffee and rolling for different prompts. Then we’d make up a little story about it. They got quite outlandish, although we were a rowdy bunch to begin with. If I ever get some free time (ha ha), I think these would be fun to try.
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The dice game sounds like a lot of fun. I could see doing that in a group with a few of the resources above too, especially the Storymatic.
Time is always an issue isn’t it? I haven’t played around with any of the gadgets above in quite a while, but hope to have more time in the future to fiddle with them. I remember the days when this kind of writing was inspiring and so much fun!
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I remember when I had time for coffee with my friends!
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The good old days 🙂
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Reblogged this on Viv Drewa – The Owl Lady.
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Thank you, Viv! 🙂
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You’re very welcome, Mae!
Hugz on owl wings! @v@ ❤
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Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog.
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Thank you, Chris. Much appreciated! 🙂
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Welcome, Mae 😃
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Excellent, Mae. Thank you.
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Thanks, John. I hope one of them sparked your interest. 🙂
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😀
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Great ideas. Lately, I just go down to the ocean and eat a jellyfish. 🤪
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Yikes! Well, that’s a creative approach for sure, LOL 😀
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Have you seen the ads for Prevagen? They say it is made from parts of a jellyfish. WELL….I was trying to be silly.
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I LIVE for silly, Chuck. I thought it was an awesome response! 😀
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Reblogged this on Anna Dobritt — Author.
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Thank you, Anna!
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Those look like wonderful tools for quick writing exercises. I enjoy micro-fiction too, so they could produce some viable work. Thanks for sharing them with us.
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They would be a great launching point for micro-fic. The online version of the Story Spinner is free too, so it’s easy to hop over there whenever the muse strikes and see what story “recipe” pops up. I’m glad you found them interesting!
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I haven’t used any of the ones you’ve listed, but playing with the “story dice” app with my brother was fun, and the session sparked an idea that later became one of my books. I keep that app handy now, and also grabbed the “spooky dice” version… Since both are free.
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Victoria, that’s awesome that the session sparked an idea that later became one of your books. Fantastic!
I have the story dice app on my iPhone but had no idea there was a spooky dice version. I’m going to have to download that. Thank you!
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Haven’t used any of these particular items but I have used story prompts before. In one of my first writing classes, the teacher gave us a three-column list. One column contained the name of a place, the other an object, the third an event. We had to randomly pick three numbers, use the item corresponding to those numbers in each column, and write a short story (two or three paragraphs) using out selections. Challenging but fun!
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Oooh, I like the sound of that Joan, especially given you used random numbers for the match-ups. Sounds like that would have produced a lot of interesting fiction, and fun too! Great share!
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Reblogged this on Legends of Windemere.
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Thank you, Charles!
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I’ve not come across any of these before, but they look awesome! You’ve inspired me to do a bit of shopping, lols! 🙂 I’ve used a couple of online story generators with mixed success. A good blog I found recently is Book Fox Story Ideas at https://thejohnfox.com/2016/05/story-idea-generator/. The prompt about the Jim Crow town planner really sparked my imagination. I love creative tools, whether to use for short stories, full novels, or simple writing practice. Thanks for a great post on various tools, Mae! I’ll be checking some of these out.
Pressed This on: http://harmonykent.co.uk/these-look-like-fun-tools-to-engage-your-creativity/
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Heehee. I’m glad I’ve inspired you to do a bit of shopping. I especially love my Story Spinner and Storymatic 🙂
Thank you for the press, and also the blog link to Book Fox Story Ideas. I hopped over and it looks like a great resource.
Glad you enjoyed the post, Harmony!
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I wonder if I can get the storyspinner in UK?
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Hmmm…I’m not sure. You could always reach out to Bonnie Nuebauerr and contact her through her website.
I think all of the other ones are available on Amazon so I’m sure Amazon UK has them as well.
There is also the free online version of the Storyspinner, too 🙂
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Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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Thank you for the reblog! 🙂
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