The Headlines Game

Will you be able to play? Here's what you do: Mix and match headlines, pieces of stories, people and names - take a person from one news story and set that "character" down inside another story. Tell us how that person reacts, what is happening to them and what do they do? Try to pick something from each category (rewording it is perfectly fine) and incorporate all into a new story or character description. CATEGORY ONE - "HEADLINES" Terror suspects held in secret CIA prisons Baghdad car bomb kills 6 Gas prices fall average of 4 cents per gallon Engineers Fear Levee Repairs Not Enough 70,000 grocery store workers strike Hacker suspect says his PC was hijacked Judge delays concealed weapons law A Street Pioneer Strikes Again Suspect in backyard burial deaths escapes Challenges to Bush's Iraq Policy Gain Dramatic Momentum CATEGORY TWO - "BITS AND PIECES" Breathitt, 78, was admitted to the intensive care unit at the UK Medical Center Friday night, said university spokeswoman Mary Margaret Colliver. Colliver said the cause of Breathitt's collapse had not been determined. ************************* Firefighters responding to the basement fire in a two-story home in Brooklyn found the children, a 2-year-old boy and a girl believed to be 8 or 9, suffering from smoke inhalations. The children were later pronounced dead at a hospital, said Jack Thompson, a Fire Department spokesman. ************************* The twins, who were born in a small town about 500 miles south of Cairo, came to Dallas with the help of the World Craniofacial Foundation, which helps children with head and face deformities receive treatment. ************************* Rain fell in the Northeast from New Jersey into New England Sunday. Light showers moved across central and northern Florida. Skies were cloudy in the Great Lakes region, the Midwest and the Ohio Valley. By far the heaviest rain in the nation was in southern Texas, with severe thunderstorms inland. ************************* For years, only those who climbed to the fabled "roof of the world" glimpsed the sacred treasures of the Dalai Lamas. Now, the Western world will get a firsthand look at the items used in lavish ceremonies and daily rituals at the Potala Palace by the Dalai Lamas and their courts when nearly 200 rare objects go on display for the first time outside of Lhasa, Tibet. ************************* Berntsen says he had definitive intelligence that bin Laden was holed up at Tora Bora—intelligence operatives had tracked him—and could have been caught. "He was there," Berntsen tells NEWSWEEK. CATEGORY THREE - "PEOPLE" Daniel Boone Eugenia Phillips Cameron Diaz Rush Limbaugh Paris Hilton

Ye Olde Amnesia Cliche

We know anything to do with amnesia is practically a total cliche. So here's the challenge...Think of a new angle. You can write an actual short scene or story OR just state how you could use the amnesia angle in a way it's NEVER been done before. This may be a very tough challenge.

Characters Who Need to Fake Their Own Death

Create such a character. Who are they? What is their history, what brought them to this point where they must fake their own death? WHY are they doing this? What do they hope to gain? How do they go about it? What are they going to do that will absolutely convince family, friends, employer, coworkers, community, AND the authorities that they are dead and gone? Or is one or more of those groups in on the scheme? WHY? Details, details... we want details... "The Running Man," starring Laurence Harvey and Lee Remick was one of my favorite "faked death" movies.

Another 10 Story Starters

Another 10 Story Starters

1. You are a high school student and you are in your Biology lab when the School Nurse arrives to inform the teacher that no one is allowed to leave the classroom. Why? What happens next?

2. You are sitting at a bar when the person in the seat next to you asks you to watch their stuff while they go to the bathroom. They leave their cell phone on the bar. It rings. What do you do? If you decide to answer it, who is on the line and how does your conversation go?

3. A woman approaches you in a public place (public restroom, shopping mall, gas station, you make it up) and says she is being pursued by a dangerous ex-whatever (husband, boyfriend, etc.). She asks for your help. What do you do? What happens next?

4. You are watching "America's Most Wanted" and you recognize a very respected and most extremely popular co-worker as a wanted suspect. What do you do?

5. You are at a public function and you are suddenly put on the spot, asked to give a toast to someone you despise or have no respect for at all. What do you say?

6. A delivery company has mistakenly left a large package from your most favorite store in the whole world on your front porch. The package should have gone to a neighbor who has not been very nice to you. Do you open it or do you call the delivery company to tell them they made a mistake? If you open the package, what's inside?

7. You wake up one morning to see that you are the only "live action" human being left on the planet and everyone and everything else is a cartoon. Describe what you see and what you do and what you are thinking and feeling.

8. You discover that you have the power to "miniaturize" other people and things and can put them in mini-ecosystems like snowglobes. Do you use that power? Who would you miniaturize and what sort of environment would you create for them?

9. You become aware that you have some kind of psychic connection to a best-selling author because everything you begin to write, they do it too and make megabucks doing it. They are your psychic vampire, feeding off your ideas. What do you do about it?

10. You are at a convention or gathering of your peers and you stand up to give the keynote address only to realize that you have a powerful urge to fart. You know it's coming. What do you do?

Challenge: Objects

Make a story or scene or paragraph(s) using all of the following objects as central to the theme or action of your story: rowboat dynamite hot dog bun

HELP WANTED: Mysterious Creature

HELP WANTED: Mysterious Creature You live in a small town or rural area that needs a great infusion of economic development... money, in other words. So you and the rest of the townsfolk decide to invent a monster. It's sure to attract tourism. But how do you keep up the illusion? What sorts of manufactured evidence is the town able to produce to attract the right sort of investigator? How do you go about grabbing headlines? What complications result? Think on a personal level for individual characters as well as for the town. Does greed factor in? And what if a character discovers something real? What if incidents begin to occur? What if things get genuinely scary? What or who is behind it? Inspiration for this post comes from THIS NEWS ARTICLE.

Creative Aerobics

Creative Aerobics This website offers well,... I'll let you check it out. It is meant as a for-profit business, but just the brief descriptions of what they offer and some of their free "samples" might spark some story ideas or start the creative juices flowing.

Tell us a little something more about these folks...

You are in line to check out at the supermarket. You notice the guy currently being checked is buying every knife the place sells, all sizes, every single one. His shopping cart is filled with knives.

At a wedding reception, a bridesmaid is deliberately stepping on the long veil of the happily dancing bride.

A child stands alone in front of school as other children are being picked up by car pooling parents. He is completely ignored by the other children and adults.

The "bag" lady pushing the shopping cart loaded up with filled garbage bags is wearing expensive shoes and jewelry.

An entire family is found, in their station wagon located in the parking lot of a Las Vegas luxury resort, in what seems to be a catatonic state or state of "suspended animation." Mom, Dad, kids, all of them with eyes open but nobody's home.

Challenge: Ten Random Words

Make a scene or story or paragraph out of these ten words: tamboura oarfish zany gag order fabled landau rabbit punch cabaret xenophobe earnest

Challenge: Ten Random Words

I picked ten words at random from the dictionary. Make a scene, story, paragraph, whatever whatever from the following ten words: water hammer (I don't know, that's what it said) magpie Damien de Veuster, Joseph umbrella plant bacterial Johnstown yawp acrylonitrile panchromatic tam-o'-shanter Yes, if there is an adjective/adverb/verb form of the word, you can use that instead.

Writer's Challenge: An Object

Make a scene/story/paragraph that uses the following object as an important or central part of the story: Toothpaste for sensitive teeth and gums

Challenge: Characters

Who are these characters and what do they have to do with each other? Randolph Edward Whitney Ding Dong Melanie Hart

Ten Story Starters

Ten Story Starters

1. How many different causes of heartbreak are there? Create two distinct characters, both suffering from heartbreaks - but for very different reasons - and tell us how their stories intertwine and how they impact each other.

2. Your character answers the phone. It's a wrong number, someone calling from jail, and this one phone call is their only hope to do what? Get bailed out? Undo an injustice? Save a life? And what does your character do? How desperate is the problem your character is asked to fix and what danger does it bring?

3. You are helping someone celebrate their 100th birthday. It could be a relative, a neighbor, local celebrity - you decide. Your job for the big party is to create a "Display of Decades," like a giant birthday card that gives the highlights of each decade in that birthday person's life. Create the decades (10 yrs. old, 20 yrs. old, etc.) or pick one decade in particular and go into more detail. What years does this person's life span?

4. A deep-cover agent for a terrorist organization has spent his/her whole life in the United States and identifies as an American. And now he/she is called upon to perform an act of horror of such great magnitude that it will destablize the American government. What act of terror could that be and what conflict does this character feel and who does he/she love who will be destroyed if they carry it through? And why can't they just say no?

5. You work for the President of the United States in a capacity that puts you in his presence every day. You can see that he is becoming increasingly mentally unstable. You can also see that others around him are using his increasing disability to some evil advantage. You are just a worker bee without any influence and power. How do you save the President and the country?

6. Your very eccentric next-door neighbor grows the largest and most beautiful roses you have ever seen in your life. What is your neighbor's secret?

7. You are slowly coming to realize that you are an alien from outer space living on Earth amongst humans. Why have you NOT always known this? And what are the signs that you are an alien that you are discovering and how does it affect your mental attitude as you begin to learn the truth? What consequences await you and the humans you have come to care for?

8. You are minding your own business having a cup of coffee at Denny's when you overhear the people in the next booth make their plans to rob the place. How do you alert the employees without also alerting the robbers? You know they have guns.

9. A TV Reporter goes around "creating news" by committing crimes like arson, etc. So far, no one is seriously hurt. And now a mystery figure of evil has learned the Reporter's secret. What are they able to force the Reporter to do? Or does the Reporter refuse and what are the consequences?

10. A precocious child on a long train ride makes a game of observing people and inventing stories about them. What if the child discovers one of his/her stories is a little too close to the truth? What danger ensues?

Challenge: Ten Word List

Make up a story, scene, etc, and use the following words in it: bloviate arcanum gamine potboiler abstruse nettlesome sotto voce comely abattoir blackguard

Challenge: Objects

Make a scene/story/paragraph that uses ALL of the following object(s) as an important or central part of the story: brown paper lunch sack Elmer's School Glue mildew

Challenge: Characters

Who are these characters and what do they have to do with each other? a retired circus clown a popular local political figure a teenage prostitute an accident victim

Stonehenge

Stonehenge

So... can you create a story, scene, paragraph, poem or any other form of writing that involves Stonehenge in some way? Here's just a few suggestions. If you don't like any of these "story starters," create your own. 1. You were there when Stonehenge (or at least one of its stones) was raised. Describe your daily life, your culture, your beliefs. What was your part in the raising of the stones? 2. You are a tourist guide giving your "talk" to a few tourists who are in awe of this place. All except one and this person remains stonefaced as you talk and you sense there is a deep connection between the stranger and Stonehenge. What does it turn out to be and what adventure does it lead you to? 3. You are a scientist who discovers Stonehenge is the key to a secret that will prevent the destruction of the world. What science do you practice and how did you reach your conclusion and how does Stonehenge come into it? And does it save the world? 4. You are in a rock band or part of the crew, trying to make a music video at Stonhenge. What strange things occur? Is there a threat or danger or is the overall effect a good one? What do you witness? How are you affected? 5. As you approach Stonehenge, you hear the sound of weeping. Who is it and why are they weeping? Are they in this world or another one? Does Stonehenge allow you to make direct contact with the weeper? How? What answers do you find?

What are these people talking about?

Can you fill in the blanks? Tell us what kind of
conversation is going on here -- do the dialog.

Deep Dark Secrets

What deep dark secret is each of these
characters hiding from the others?

Story Device: Unable to Admit a Mistake

Sometimes, when you come up with ideas for stories, you might start out with just a character or perhaps a bit of action inspired by seeing something on the news. And sometimes, a quirky little idea may find its way to your writer's brain as a theme or device around which a story can be wound. Challenge to You, Writer: Write a story, scene, or anything else around the idea of a person who is unable to admit a mistake. What consequences ensue? What action flows from this one character's character flaw? Some Possible Examples: Two good friends have a falling-out based on one friend's misunderstanding. This friend has plotted revenge and just as it is about to destroy her old friend, she realizes her mistake. How can she stop the disaster about to happen? Will she ever restore the old friendship? A boss fires the wrong employee. A cop shoots an innocent kid. A husband believes his faithful wife is unfaithful. A teacher accuses an honest student of cheating. An elected official wrongly accuses another elected official of corruption. WHAT MIGHT RESULT IF ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS WERE UNABLE TO ADMIT THEIR MISTAKE?

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. Tipper Gore 2. a homeless child 3. Marilyn Manson 4. Clay Aiken 5. President Bush 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?

Creating Aliens and Fantastic Beings

A Creature/Worldbuilding Exercise (from About.com) Instructions: Try to do the entire exercise in one sitting. You may find this helps your thought processes or you may find it overwhelming; if the latter, take breaks between numbered sections, but don't let too much time pass before going on to the next. There are notes at the end that may help you better understand the focus and point of the exercise. VISIT THIS WEBPAGE TO DO THE EXERCISE.

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."

Cars That Tell a Story - Fun Writing Challenge

#1. A family lives here. Tell us about them.

#2. Describe the relationship between this old car and its master or mistress. What adventures have they've seen together? If the owner has named the car, what is its name and why?

#3. Where does this road lead to and why did this car and its occupants never make it there? What happened to them?

#4. If this old car could be the narrator of its own history, what would it tell you about each of its owners? What life-altering events has this car witnessed? Who did this car especially love? Who did this car despise? Who broke its "heart?" Who filled it with pride?

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

...and now, to make things even more interesting...

To make things even MORE fun, take the word list challenges I already posted for various genres and use them again but for one of the OTHER genres.

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

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

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

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

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.

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?

A News Article to Inspire You

Scientists Find Ancient Hobbit-Sized People Updated 9:05 AM ET October 28, 2004 Once upon a time, on an isolated island of Indonesia, there lived a colony of little people -- very little people.Not only did anthropologists find the skeletal remains of a hobbit-sized, 30-year-old adult female, in this fairy-tale-like discovery they also uncovered in the same limestone cave the remains of a Komodo dragon, stone tools and a dwarf elephant. The link to this news story is now dead and leads to a "404 error page." Here is the GOOGLE SEARCH on "hobbit sized people."

What Just Happened Here?

What just happened here? Who was here? What were their names? What did they say or do to one another? Who lives here? Are we seeing a scene AFTER something has already happened or are we seeing from the point-of-view of a character? If you are the character, why is this view special to you?

Holiday Writing Challenge

Make a story, scene, paragraph, poem or anything else with the following words: package rude grin jello shots tatters green mall gingerbread fruitcake elf

Creativity Toolbox

Brainline - Brainstorming process that outlines your challenge, stimulates creative thinking, and collects ideas from participants around the world. 100-Whats - What-if questions from Don the Idea Guy. Free the Genie - Four ways to use 55 prompts from the Idea Champions Idea-A-Day - Over 700 free ideas and growing. Idea Lottery - Connection tool from the Idea ChampionsJob Force - Takes inspiration from occupations. Jump Start - A catalytic "oomph" from the Idea Champions Naming Prompts - Suggests 100 ways to think about naming. QuotAmaze - Follow a chain of quotations to inspiration. Ricliché - Uses playfully distorted proverbs as prompts. Sloganeeze - Draws inspiration from advertising slogans. Star Force - Asks how famous people might solve your problem. Whack Pack - Roger von Oech's deck of cards. WordGizmo - Creates new words to inspire you.

Watizit

Watizit (pronounced like "what is it") is the online version of an idea-generating technique used by Dave Dufour in live seminars, online brainlining, and other creative sessions around the country. It's fun, easy, productive and it's free!

WriteExpress Unblocking Writer's Block

Letter-writing software and templates, novel-writing software, royalty-free photos and images, vocabulary software, language and dictionary software, templates for Office and more...

Combining Seemingly Unrelated Stuff

Combining Seemingly Unrelated
Issues, Ideas, Characters

Make a list of pairs of issues or incidents or people or anything else and see what ideas they spark from you. Some examples: Internet stalker + fake Hollywood agent = ? Serial killer + Christmas holiday = ? Animal activist + Circus clown = ? Trailer park mama + Wall Street Journal = ? Gang violence + country line dancing = ? Trick-or-Treating + Big Corporate corruption = ? Huge highway accident pile-up + fertilizer = ? Kindergarten classroom + air pollution = ? Contaminated milk + nursing home = ? Hot Rod car + C.P.A. = ? Manicured front lawn + carbon monoxide = ? Global warming + football stadium = ? Honest Congressperson + broken traffic light = ? Pizza deliveryman + computer hacker = ? A fake messiah + plagairizing newspaper reporter = ? Motel manager + church volunteer = ? Racial profiling + telemarketer = ? ... you get the idea. If you come up with a paragrah or scene or story or just a simple answer, please share it here in the Comments section.

So You Think You Know Your Character...

Pick a character from one of your current works-in-progress or just for fun, a character from a movie that you've seen. Stretch your creative brain by answering some of the following questions... Would your character stop to pick up a penny on the ground? A quarter? A dollar bill? Would he or she look around to see if anyone else noticed or if the presumed owner might be nearby? What food product might your character be allergic to or they just cannot stand eating? What bad experience(s) have they had with that food item? Has your character ever gotten so drunk (at any age) that they puked? Does your character ever read a newspaper? Which one? What section is the most interesting to them? Your character just witnessed someone shoplifting. Do they report it if the shoplifter is: a housewife type? A teenage boy? A teenage girl? A small child? A grown man? In any case? Do they speak directly to the shoplifter or just tell the business? Your character is having dinner in a restaurant and the small child in the booth behind is very wiggly and bouncy, making your character jiggle with every move. Does your character say or do anything? When? How long do they put up with the wiggling? Does your character have anger management problems? Speaking of anger management, someone cuts your character off on the freeway. What does your character think/feel/do about it? Has your character ever deliberately hurt someone's feelings? What were the circumstances? What did your character say or do to cause the hurt? Has your character attended high school? What was their "popularity status?" Did they care? Does your character have any siblings? What conflict exists between your character and any sibling(s)? If your character discovered a wallet full of cash and the owner's ID was in the wallet, what would your character do? Has your character ever had sex without feeling anything for their sex partner? Has anyone ever done that to them? Has your character ever been the victim of a crime? Has your character ever been in a physical/violent one-on-one confrontation? Does your character pay their bills on time? Does your character send out cards at holiday time? What does your character's favorite outfit consist of? Why did your character leave their last job (before your story starts and before whatever present job they have, if any, in your story)? Has your character ever had a "psychic experience" or experienced anything like that, out of the ordinary? Has your character ever played sports? Which one(s)? Would your character give up their seat on a bus to an elderly person or a pregnant woman? What is your character's favorite comfort or junk food? What is the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to your character? GOT ANY GREAT SUGGESTIONS FOR THIS LIST? Please post a comment!

Character Development Exercise

Character Development Exercise

Scriptologist.com's step-by-step character development exercise will show you how to create the believable characters that Hollywood loves.

Story Ideas from the Visual Writer

Story Ideas from the Visual Writer Copyright © 1997 - 2005 Dorian Scott Cole

These attempt to be thought provoking ideas to challenge writers to write better stories. Ideas can't be copyrighted, but if you use a fully developed idea from these pages it is customary to give credit - you won't get sued if you don't, or charged if you do. You will find a list of story suggestions at the end of each topic.

THE FIRST LINE (Creativity Starter)

THE FIRST LINE (Creativity Starter)

Submit your fiction or nonfiction work to this magazine that was designed to explore the different direction writers may take when they start from the same place. They give you the first line and you write the rest.

Welcome to Brain Juice!

I have enjoyed challenging myself and other writers to come up with stories, screenplay pages, poems, and more by posting various "story starters" in different forms, either as links to other websites or original challenges created by me. I'm going to start collecting them all together here in the hope that even more creative writers can get some benefit from them.

And, because this blog is titled "brain juice," I think I will do the occasional post relating to current events and social issues because out of those discussions can come even more inspiration to write.

Anything that gets the brain juices bubbling is a good thing.