Story Cubes

In my last post I mentioned about using story aids to get creative with my writing. My original idea had been to coerce draft ask a friend to do it with me so I’d have a two-person review. I should have known that once I made the plan things would go awry.

When my friend and I first started getting together once a week, the intention was that we’d spend at least part of the time writing. However, we’d talk and go out to lunch and never get to the writing part. These story aids were supposed to change all that.

Unfortunately, my friend got called back to work for an 18 month contract. Figures. She dodged a bullet and I get to do these reviews by myself.

I decided to start with the Story Cubes There are nine, six-sided dice, with a picture on each of the six sides. You’re supposed to roll the dice and write according to the pictures that come up on the top of the dice.

Technically it’s more of a game, and it’s meant to be played with several players, but there is is a layout where you can use them solo. The layout is called My Hero. You roll three cubes and use them to create a character, or hero, then you roll all nine cubes and tell a story featuring your hero.

The three cubes I rolled for my character came up with: a sunflower, a rainbow, and an angry shadow. And here’s what I came up with for my character:

Her name is Sunflower Reid, her friends call her Sunny. Her parents signed over the deed to their small, but successful organic farm to her two years ago, leaving them free to travel the country in their Volkswagen camper van. She has a ghost attached to her, but I’m not sure at this point if this is a good thing, or a bad thing.

When I rolled all nine dice for my storyline, they came up: an apple, water flowing under a bridge, tree, balance scales, fish, an L in a box, an arrow pointing down to the left, a worried face, and an open hand.

I’m finding the Story Cubes both fun and a little bit challenging. I’ve spent a couple of days brainstorming and I think I’ve finally come up with a couple of story ideas. One is sweet and maybe a bit romantic, and the other is a little on the creepy side. Which one will I choose? You’ll have to wait and see. I’ll post it when I’m done. :-D

I’ve Got A Brilliant Idea . . .

I’m sure there’s not a writer out there who hasn’t used a prompt at one time or another to come up with a story idea. I’ve used prompt generators, picked words at random out of a dictionary, and scoured writing sites for their prompts. And I had a measure of success with all of them.

But over the years I’ve also picked up a few writing aids that are a little different, and in fact, they might even be a little fun, if I’d just get off my lazy butt and use them. I have:

1. Story Cubes. This is more of a game, but it still looks kind of fun. There are nine, six-sided dice, with a picture on each of the six sides. You’re supposed to roll all nine dice and write according to the pictures that come up on the top of the dice – three for the beginning, three for the middle, and three for the ending. To be honest, I’d forgotten I had these until I was looking for something else in the drawer I’d stashed them in. But they look like they might be fun.

2. Once Upon A Time, the Storytelling Card Game. I’m pretty sure I bought this for my granddaughter, and it looked like so much fun I bought one for myself. It, too, ended up in a drawer, forgotten. This also is a card game, but looks kind of complicated. One player is the Storyteller, and the others use their cards to interrupt them and take over the story. The winner is the first one to use up all their cards, and you all end up with a story at the end.

3. The Archetype Cards, created by Caroline Myss. This is a set of 80 cards and it comes with an instruction booklet. Each card has an Archetype on it, with a description of both the light and the shadow attributes of the Archetype, and the booklet goes into a little more depth for each card. I was in a small writing group a few years ago, and sometimes we’d each pull a card at random and write about whatever Archetype we picked.

4. Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones Deck. These are a little more straightforward. It’s a set of 60 cards, with a topic (not a prompt) written on one side and an insight into writing on the other. Just pick one and start writing.

5. Tarot cards. At one time I used the Tarot to tell people their fortunes. I was pretty good at it too - so good that I scared myself so I gave them up. But I still have several decks, and I’m slowly trying to get back in the swing of it. And whether you tell fortunes with them or not, it’s still an interesting way to come up with a story idea. Pick one (or even better several) at random and write about what the cards say to you.

6. The Story Oracle. This was a Christmas gift from a friend. They’re billed as a creative writing inspiration deck, and seem to work on the same principle as the Tarot. There are 78 cards, like the Tarot, and two meanings for each card depending on whether it falls right side up or upside down. The accompanying booklet has suggestions for several different spreads, but I would think any Tarot spread would work.

My brilliant idea is to use one of these story aids a week, and then report back here as to how they worked and if they worked. If nothing else, I’ll have a guaranteed six weeks worth of blog posts. LOL

Editing Analogy

When I was sitting in the library with a writing buddy, staring out the window at the river below, I started thinking about how editing was like a snake shedding its skin. How the outer skin, like superfluous words, is left behind.

But then I thought maybe a better analogy would be the life cycle of a butterfly. Your idea is like the first glimmer of an idea. Some will hatch, some won’t. One idea will make it though, just like one egg will turn into a caterpillar. The caterpillar begins to grow and expand, consuming food to gain nutrients. Your story begins to grow and expand as you add words and details.

The caterpillar finally finishes its cycle of growth. It stops and begins to shed its skin while at the same time creating a cocoon to aid in its transformation. The transformation for your story is the editing process, where your words are refined and polished. The caterpillar turns mushy as it re-forms, just as your story may get worse before it gets better.

Finally, the cocoon splits open and a beautiful butterfly emerges. You finally lay down your pen and your story or novel is done.

The novel I’m working on right now is well into the mushy stage of editing. I knew going in it was going to be a beast to edit – it’s the fifth book in a series and I thought I was being smart doing it for NaNoWriMo. I was not. NaNo was all about the quantity of words, not the quality, and I’m paying for it now.

So far I’ve scrapped the idea of starting each chapter with an excerpt from “historic records.” I rewrote the prologue three times before scrapping it altogether and starting fresh. And I’ve re-ordered the first five chapters several times.

But I’m getting closer. It may take longer than I’d hoped, but soon my story will be ready to break out of its cocoon. And I dare to say it’ll be worth the wait.

I Lost My List

Yup, that’s right. Somewhere between checking out at one grocery store and parking at the next one, I lost my grocery list. Now this might not be a big deal to some of you out there, but it’s a very big deal to me.

I kept a pad and pen stuck to the refrigerator and my husband and I both put things on the grocery list as we run out of them. Without the list it’s chaos as I try to remember what we might need. It’s also expensive because I’ll buy things, not knowing if I actually need them or not.

But it got me thinking . . . I used to have a lot of success following lists. And I daresay I was more productive when I kept daily “to-do” lists, things I wanted to accomplish during the day.

Lists help us remember things we might otherwise forget, like groceries. Memory needs structure, a connection, but a list can be utterly random. We can add or subtract from a list. Who doesn’t love the rush of crossing things off your list? They can give you satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.

The act of creating a list can also trigger ideas for other things. Say you make a list of things you want to remember to include in a story, one of those things might get you thinking in another direction, which could lead to a whole new story.

Lists are concise and orderly. They can convey a lot of information in just a few words. They’re small and to the point, and can make a task seem not quite so formidable. And a pro and con list can be a great help in decision making.

To help break bad habits, try making a “Not-to-Do” list. Do not spend so much time playing games. Do not eat keep eating after you’re full. Do not spend so much money on things you don’t need on Amazon.

A list can save you time by laying out what you need to do so you can prioritize the parts of a task. A grocery list can save you money by letting you know exactly what you need so you’re not wandering around the store, like me, buying random items.

I get distracted easily, and I’m weak when it comes to wasting time on things like binge reading. After careful consideration, I think I’m going to try doing a daily to-do list, just jotting down things I’d like to accomplish, one day at a time.

In the meantime, as far as grocery shopping goes, I’m going to start taking a picture of my list before I shop.

Welcome Back

Well. That was another break that was longer than I expected. I swear there were several times I was going to do a blog post here, but then I’d get distracted and . . . well, you know how that goes. I have not yet earned my vanity plates. *hangs head sadly*

But this is a new year, and while it’s not a new me, it’s a more determined me. I spent the entire day yesterday cleaning my desk and reorganizing the bookcases behind my desk to make a space more conducive to spending more time in my office, hopefully writing.

I may have thought I was over the reading madness, when last I posted, but I was not. My Achilles heel seems to be boxed sets of fated mates, whether they be to aliens or shifters. And Amazon appears to be full of them. *sigh*

Yesterday I updated my Goodreads goal so I could start fresh for the new year. My original goal was to read 75 books in the year. But halfway through the year I had to upgrade that number to 100, and then 150. By the end of yesterday my total sat at 222 books for the year. So my first goal for the new year is less reading, more writing.

I also want to spend at least an hour a day in my office. Maybe there’ll be days where all I do is push papers around, but I want to build a habit of being in there.

When I started meeting with an old friend on Wednesdays, the idea was to inspire each other to write. We wrote as teenagers and she wanted to get back into it. This has not been happening. We usually reminisce and go out to lunch, then reminisce some more. Sometimes we go shopping. I told her that starting in the new year I wanted us to start getting some writing in on our Wednesdays. Only time will tell if this happens.

Meanwhile, someone from a writing group I was in a few years ago got in touch with me, looking to see if I wanted to get together at the library the next town over to work on our writing together. It’s kind of like the write-ins from NaNo. We meet and write with very little talking. The focus is on the writing. And I’ve been getting some editing done on Elemental Spirit. It’s finally going in the direction it needs to do. So that’s a step in the right direction.

Early last year I realized that my writing was being subsumed by my crafting. The stitchery guild I was part of took up a lot of my time, and honestly crafting seemed easier than writing. But I’ve slowly been turning that around and I’ve put the crafting in the back seat where it belongs. Now I just have to do the same for my reading. LOL

This ‘N That

Once again it’s been a while, but at least it hasn’t been another 18 months. :-D

What can I say? The spirit was willing but the rest of me had a bunch of stuff on the go. I was on the committee for the Northumberland Hills Stitchery Guild’s 40th Anniversary Tea, and as such there was planning and meetings, etc., which I took part in. Then there was the baking . . . oh, so much baking: 3 dozen mini plain scones, 3 dozen mini ginger scones, 3 dozen mini blueberry scones, not to mention a batch that was gluten free. Then there was 30 mini quiches, 24 crustless quiches, 30 lemon tarts, 24 mini cheesecakes, and a few dozen brownies – some of which were gluten free.

At the same time, I was also making a dress for the granddaughter’s last father/daughter ball. The theme was Under the Sea, and because it was the last time she’d be able to participate (they have a cut off year for age) I went all out. She requested a dress with squid tentacles, and I was happy to oblige. I used iridescent organza to give it the underwater effect.

I only planned to take the weekend off after that, to give myself time to recuperate, but a funny thing happened . . . I picked up the latest Nora Roberts book (that I hadn't read yet), and when I was finished reading it I may have, kind of, kept going. As in, I pulled about half a dozen previously read books off my shelf and read them, too.

The good news is, I think I’m over the reading madness and I’m back to reading just a couple of hours a day. And I have nothing major going on, except hanging with the granddaughter four days a week. They’re not even full days either, just from lunch time to late afternoon, leaving my mornings free for writing.

But even with my reading binge, it’s not like I haven’t been doing any writing. I’ve been doing my morning pages . . . granted sometimes it’s more like morning page, and I’ve been doing a daily three-minute word, where I pick a word at random and write for three minutes using it as a prompt.

Sometimes I take the notebook I use for my morning pages with me when I go for my morning walk and sit down on the pier to write. I’ve seen some interesting characters, and I’ve come up with at least one potential story idea. It’s something to work on when I need a break from editing An Elemental Spirit.

I’ve set myself a goal for Elemental Spirit. I want to be able to release it into the wild by the end of the year, or, most likely, January of next year. I’m going to deserve those vanity plates yet!

Weird, or What?

William Shatner used to host a series by that name, but I tell you, it didn't come close to what I saw recently. Last weekend, I went to the Oddities and Curiosities Expo in Toronto. And let me tell you, I wasn’t disappointed. It was both odd, and very curious!

The exhibits ranged from kitschy to weird to downright creepy. But they didn’t hold a candle to the people attending. Most were dressed in costumes that were an interesting cross between steam punk and goth. I wish I’d taken pictures of them. Granted some were kind of lame, like the girl wearing a slip over top of a track suit, but some were outstanding, like the Victorian style, black lace wedding gown, complete with black lace gloves.

The merchandise . . . Wow, what can I say about the variety? I mean, sure there were pictures, and paintings, and tee shirts, and jewelry. But there was also a large selection of books on magic and demonology, herbs and potions, scented candles, crystals – so many crystals. There were masks and stuffies, papier mâché creatures, amazingly creepy dolls, dioramas, insects under glass, bleached bones, and let’s not forget the vast display of stuffed animals, literally, via taxidermy.

There were squirrels dressed like dolls, weasels in Victorian garb, jackalopes, and just ordinary animals – baby chicks, a lot of rabbits, coyotes, a really beautiful rooster, and a full sized bear. But my favorite was this guy:

I have got to write a story featuring this guy. A pet? A familiar? The main character? I don’t know yet, but he needs a story, don’t you think?

Even if you’re not into the weird or the creepy or the scary, there was plenty of story fodder at this show. Personally, my flash stories tend to be weird and/or creepy, and you can bet future stories will contain details of what I saw.

I found out about the taxidermy workshop too late to participate, which was probably just as well because I heard it was rather pricey. But I did get my palm read by one of the psychics, and I bought a set of oracle cards. You know, to be kept with all the other sets of oracle cards I have but never use. ;-)

The Expo was definitely time well spent. And next year when I go, because I will be going next year, maybe I’ll take a few pictures of the characters I see. Not to post online of course, but as reference material for creating characters in my stories.