Story Starters - Page Eight
People Scavenger Hunt
Either invent identities for the following characters or, if their identities are already known, use what you can from that to make a list of character definitions in your own words. Then mix things up by creating a story or setting or scene in which two or more of the characters have to interact with one another.
1. Betty White
2. a homeless child
3. Marilyn Manson
4. Clay Aiken
5. President Obama
6. gas station owner
7. sex therapist
8. bank teller
9. Stephen Speilberg
10. Donald Duck
11. Internet stalker
12. Fake screenwriting guru
13. Messageboard troll
13. Insecure Second Wife
14. Televangelist
15. Newspaper Reporter
16. Ty Pennington
17. Harry Potter
18. Las Vegas Showgirl
19. Walmart Greeter
20. Donald Trump
Either invent identities for the following characters or, if their identities are already known, use what you can from that to make a list of character definitions in your own words. Then mix things up by creating a story or setting or scene in which two or more of the characters have to interact with one another.
1. Betty White
2. a homeless child
3. Marilyn Manson
4. Clay Aiken
5. President Obama
6. gas station owner
7. sex therapist
8. bank teller
9. Stephen Speilberg
10. Donald Duck
11. Internet stalker
12. Fake screenwriting guru
13. Messageboard troll
13. Insecure Second Wife
14. Televangelist
15. Newspaper Reporter
16. Ty Pennington
17. Harry Potter
18. Las Vegas Showgirl
19. Walmart Greeter
20. Donald Trump
Interesting Neighbors
Inspiration for some of the most fascinating characters you might ever write could be living next door or on the next street over or it might be someone you see in the local grocery store or at Starbuck's.
Have you ever sat in a restaurant, looked around, and in your mind made up character backstories for the people you see there?
Try it out on a neighbor or two. See what you get.
The inspiration for this post comes from a taxi ride I took several weeks ago. In our neighborhood, the local taxi service is a van that goes around and picks up people until the van is full then drops them off at their local destinations.
On one trip, the van picked up a very eccentric older lady who lived alone in a very large near-mansion style house. She was very friendly and talky (a sign of loneliness) and was impeccably dressed and groomed. So she had the mental wherewithal to take good care of herself.
But her luxury home's front lawn and yard was filled to the gills with plastic statues and ceramics, animals and even Santa Claus, fake plants and flowers, miniature elf houses and giant elf statues and so on.
It was definitely a wonderland for the imagination, but I know the area and I know her immediate neighbors have already probably filed numerous complaints with the homeowner's association and the building code enforcement department. Apparently, she is not breaking any laws because her statues remain.
She happened to catch the same van ride home again that I did and she invited me to come by sometime for a tour of all her "babies." She would introduce me to them.
And she confessed to me that she often called on the taxi service (she had two big luxury cars in her driveway) just to be around other people and have someone to talk to. After she was dropped off, the taxi driver said all the drivers knew she did that but they didn't mind, she paid her fare the same as anyone else. They just minded at busy times when the wait for the taxi could go up to two hours. They thought her reason for calling the taxi was not as urgent as other peoples' reasons. I'm not sure I agree with that.
But that's one interesting "character" in my neighborhood that just might show up in my writing.
Do you have any interesting characters in your own neighborhood?
Inspiration for some of the most fascinating characters you might ever write could be living next door or on the next street over or it might be someone you see in the local grocery store or at Starbuck's.
Have you ever sat in a restaurant, looked around, and in your mind made up character backstories for the people you see there?
Try it out on a neighbor or two. See what you get.
The inspiration for this post comes from a taxi ride I took several weeks ago. In our neighborhood, the local taxi service is a van that goes around and picks up people until the van is full then drops them off at their local destinations.
On one trip, the van picked up a very eccentric older lady who lived alone in a very large near-mansion style house. She was very friendly and talky (a sign of loneliness) and was impeccably dressed and groomed. So she had the mental wherewithal to take good care of herself.
But her luxury home's front lawn and yard was filled to the gills with plastic statues and ceramics, animals and even Santa Claus, fake plants and flowers, miniature elf houses and giant elf statues and so on.
It was definitely a wonderland for the imagination, but I know the area and I know her immediate neighbors have already probably filed numerous complaints with the homeowner's association and the building code enforcement department. Apparently, she is not breaking any laws because her statues remain.
She happened to catch the same van ride home again that I did and she invited me to come by sometime for a tour of all her "babies." She would introduce me to them.
And she confessed to me that she often called on the taxi service (she had two big luxury cars in her driveway) just to be around other people and have someone to talk to. After she was dropped off, the taxi driver said all the drivers knew she did that but they didn't mind, she paid her fare the same as anyone else. They just minded at busy times when the wait for the taxi could go up to two hours. They thought her reason for calling the taxi was not as urgent as other peoples' reasons. I'm not sure I agree with that.
But that's one interesting "character" in my neighborhood that just might show up in my writing.
Do you have any interesting characters in your own neighborhood?
The Things People Say
These are quotes taken directly from news stories. People actually said these things. Can you invent a character for any of these quotes? Who said it and why? What is that person like? Can you write a paragraph or scene or story to follow after a quote?
THE QUOTES:
"I had goose bumps the moment I heard it.''
"I want to apologize to her for my behavior that night and for the consequences she has suffered in the past year."
“We can’t see the Earth-like planets yet."
"We didn't test that."
"It's not the time to have a hurricane party."
"So I hired eight welfare recipients to work in my office."
"It was human error."
"I've been a police officer for nine years. I've seen a lot of death. She definitely appeared dead."
"I'm willing to go to trial."
"You have done more for the collective unconscious of this planet than you will ever know."
"I have two children, but if I was living in parts of Africa I'd have a one in five chance of dying during childbirth."
"Reality television meets news and war ... tanks going into Baghdad with splashes of Viagra commercials in between. I was just so confused about what was going on. "
"...from what he described, it sounded as big as a freight train."
These are quotes taken directly from news stories. People actually said these things. Can you invent a character for any of these quotes? Who said it and why? What is that person like? Can you write a paragraph or scene or story to follow after a quote?
THE QUOTES:
"I had goose bumps the moment I heard it.''
"I want to apologize to her for my behavior that night and for the consequences she has suffered in the past year."
“We can’t see the Earth-like planets yet."
"We didn't test that."
"It's not the time to have a hurricane party."
"So I hired eight welfare recipients to work in my office."
"It was human error."
"I've been a police officer for nine years. I've seen a lot of death. She definitely appeared dead."
"I'm willing to go to trial."
"You have done more for the collective unconscious of this planet than you will ever know."
"I have two children, but if I was living in parts of Africa I'd have a one in five chance of dying during childbirth."
"Reality television meets news and war ... tanks going into Baghdad with splashes of Viagra commercials in between. I was just so confused about what was going on. "
"...from what he described, it sounded as big as a freight train."
Story & Character Inspiration from Folklore
Looking up traditional folklore stories can inspire you to adapt one of them or to create your own original stories and characters. The American Folklore website is chock full of ideas!
Here's just a few organized by region or State:
"The First Tears," an Eskimo story from Alaska
"Milk Bottles" from California
"Drought Buster" from Nebraska
"The Dance" from Texas
These are organized under the heading of "Campfire Stories:
"The Army of the Dead"
Eavesdropper
The Grave
Connecticut Yankee
Frozen Flames
Looking up traditional folklore stories can inspire you to adapt one of them or to create your own original stories and characters. The American Folklore website is chock full of ideas!
Here's just a few organized by region or State:
"The First Tears," an Eskimo story from Alaska
"Milk Bottles" from California
"Drought Buster" from Nebraska
"The Dance" from Texas
These are organized under the heading of "Campfire Stories:
"The Army of the Dead"
Eavesdropper
The Grave
Connecticut Yankee
Frozen Flames
Writing Challenge: Ten Words for the Mystery or Suspense or Thriller Genres
Make up a scene or paragraph or short story or poem or anything else that uses the following words... oh yeah, your work must be done in the Mystery or Suspense or Thriller genres.
abstain
pout
velvet
happenstance
nightmare
goblet
credit card
satin sheets
excrutiating
shiver
Make up a scene or paragraph or short story or poem or anything else that uses the following words... oh yeah, your work must be done in the Mystery or Suspense or Thriller genres.
abstain
pout
velvet
happenstance
nightmare
goblet
credit card
satin sheets
excrutiating
shiver
Challenge: Ten Words for a Fantasy or Sci-Fi Story or Movie
Make up a scene or paragraph or short story or poem or anything else that uses the following words... oh yeah, your work must be done in the Science Fiction or Fantasy genre.
grains
anomaly
cellular
pulsating
grid
vacuum
flora
humor
altered
forestall
Make up a scene or paragraph or short story or poem or anything else that uses the following words... oh yeah, your work must be done in the Science Fiction or Fantasy genre.
grains
anomaly
cellular
pulsating
grid
vacuum
flora
humor
altered
forestall
Challenge: Ten Words for a Romance/RomCom
Make up a scene or paragraph or short story or poem or anything else that uses the following words... oh yeah, your work must be done in the Romance or Rom-Com genre.
challenge
laces
sheepish
treasure
worst
faith
immortal
simplicity
devastated
delicious
Make up a scene or paragraph or short story or poem or anything else that uses the following words... oh yeah, your work must be done in the Romance or Rom-Com genre.
challenge
laces
sheepish
treasure
worst
faith
immortal
simplicity
devastated
delicious
Challenge: Objects
Make a scene/story/paragraph that uses the following object(s) as an important or central part of the story:
lemonade
remote control
brick
Make a scene/story/paragraph that uses the following object(s) as an important or central part of the story:
lemonade
remote control
brick
Challenge: Weird or Strange Words
This one is a toughie. I found a "weird words" website and thought it might be fun to take ten words and see what folks can come up with. Enjoy!
Ballistophobia
gloze
slobberchops
fribble
crytoscopophilia
scrod
commensal
ancilla
bête noire
brockie
You can try to put them all together in a story or whatever you like OR maybe come up with your own "fake" definitions like the old TV show "Liar's Club" used to do. Check out more weird words HERE.
This one is a toughie. I found a "weird words" website and thought it might be fun to take ten words and see what folks can come up with. Enjoy!
Ballistophobia
gloze
slobberchops
fribble
crytoscopophilia
scrod
commensal
ancilla
bête noire
brockie
You can try to put them all together in a story or whatever you like OR maybe come up with your own "fake" definitions like the old TV show "Liar's Club" used to do. Check out more weird words HERE.
News Story: Meteorites Gave Earth Life
Study: Meteorites Gave Earth Life
By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News
Aug. 31, 2004 — Iron meteorites may have been responsible for the evolution of life on Earth, according to NASA funded research. In a study to be published shortly in the journal Astrobiology, University of Arizona's Dante Lauretta, assistant professor of planetary sciences, and doctoral candidate Matthew Pasek, suggest that iron meteorites brought enough phosphorus to Earth to give rise to biomolecules which eventually assembled into living, replicating organisms. REST OF ARTICLE FROM DISCOVERY.COM
What kinds of stories could you make from this? Is there some odd or annoying or dangerous or miraculous event or thing or person that exists now or at one time in history that you could tie in to some type of unexpectated arrival from outer space? How would you do it? Hmmm... take a writer like Jules Verne or H.G. Wells or even Mark Twain and imagine that they were personally affected by some sort of "arrival from outer space." What would you include in that story? Or perhaps you discover something in your own back yard that came from outer space. What would it be and what happens next?
Study: Meteorites Gave Earth Life
By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News
Aug. 31, 2004 — Iron meteorites may have been responsible for the evolution of life on Earth, according to NASA funded research. In a study to be published shortly in the journal Astrobiology, University of Arizona's Dante Lauretta, assistant professor of planetary sciences, and doctoral candidate Matthew Pasek, suggest that iron meteorites brought enough phosphorus to Earth to give rise to biomolecules which eventually assembled into living, replicating organisms. REST OF ARTICLE FROM DISCOVERY.COM
What kinds of stories could you make from this? Is there some odd or annoying or dangerous or miraculous event or thing or person that exists now or at one time in history that you could tie in to some type of unexpectated arrival from outer space? How would you do it? Hmmm... take a writer like Jules Verne or H.G. Wells or even Mark Twain and imagine that they were personally affected by some sort of "arrival from outer space." What would you include in that story? Or perhaps you discover something in your own back yard that came from outer space. What would it be and what happens next?