A lists can be a whole story in itself, but lists can also provide a framework for a series of stories. Today, give some thought to list-making. It might help you later in the challenge when your idea engine is running on fumes. Pick your favorite idea today, and save the rest for later in the month
The Prompt
Use a list to generate a story idea or twelve.
Tips
- Use established cultural lists, or your own.
- Use an imagined list (âthe lists my mother gave me when I left homeâ, or âMr Renquistâs Classroom Rulesâ) to tell a characterâs story.
- Pick your favorite of the 7 Deadly Sins, 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit, 9 Circles of Hell, 5 Pillars of Islam, 12 Labors of Hercules, 3 Rules of Robotics, 3 Laws of Motion, 6 Principles of the Scientific MethodâŚ
- Write one story or think about how you might use each item in the list to generate a story. The series might feature different characters, the same protagonist, or might take a supporting character from the previous story and make him/her the protagonist of the next.
- Make notes on this today, to help you later in the month.
GO!
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Still finding opportunities to use the prompts in a story that’s brewing…! đ
https://redindica.wordpress.com/2015/05/09/patterns-in-memory/
https://storiesin5minutes.wordpress.com/2015/05/09/sharas-list-storyaday-post/ (based on a series that I’m writing)
I enjoyed this and spent quite bit of time pondering whether there might be a whole contemporary series based on the 10 Commandments (still on the back burner, for the future).
In the end, I was ‘triggered’ by my wife’s shopping list and a fictional item on that was the reason for the whole piece. It was quite short and a lot of fun!