Jumbled Story

Inspiration is at the root of good creative writing, however sometimes you simply need to begin writing and see where it takes you. On the most basic level, a story will have a protagonist, a setting, a time during which the stories take place, and a conflict or situation.

Make 10 chits of paper and number them 1 through 10. Pick a number. The number you pick will correspond to the number in the character list below. Put the number back and pick another random number. This second number will correspond to the setting. Do this for all four categories and write a short story with a length of your choosing.

Don’t be afraid to add more characters around your protagonist, or you can have your protagonist move to another location after a while. Just make sure that all four sections are covered in some part of your story (they don’t have to appear exactly how you’ve read them on the list). Some of the combinations may turn out to be strange, but go with the flow. Remember these characters exist in your imagination and so anything is possible!

Character:

1. a homeless man
2. a tree
3. a scientist
4. the oldest woman in the village
5. an extra-terrestrial visitor to earth
6. the mayor of a magical city
7. a time traveler
8. a two-headed man
9. an orphan
10. a traveler in a foreign country

Setting:

1. a farmhouse
2. on the banks of a river
3. a concert
4. an office
5. a family reunion
6. a camping trip
7. an expensive restaurant
8. a desert
9. the top of a mountain
10. a classroom

Time

1. sunrise
2. New Year’s Eve/Day
3. a thunderstorm (before, during and/or after)
4. the last day of exams
5. in the middle of the night
6. during a fire
7. during a party
8. after a natural disaster
9. the day of a festival
10. the first day of summer camp

Situation/Challenge

1. a big deadline is coming up
2. two friends have a firecracker and want to get up to mischief
3. someone finds a magic lamp
4. something embarrassing has happened in a large group of people
5. a death has occurred
6. an important decision needs to be made
7. a child is born
8. a cat has fallen into a well
9. someone hasn’t gotten into any of the colleges they’ve applied to
10. the car won’t start

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