newtypeshadow46 | Writing Games

I decided all these writing games needed a home somewhere--a master list I could send people too for writing game ideas. None of these is etched in stone. Rather, they can be played as they are, as pushing-off points for variations, or to generate ideas to create new games entirely. Feel free to link me to other games in the comments.

Bishounen Backstory Game

First, someone posts a picture of a bishounen and writes out a few questions about the picture and its subject.

After that, anyone who wants can either write out their answers to those questions, or write a story about the bishounen which touches on or answers the poster’s questions. Multiple people can post responses for each picture.

Titles Game

If you make up titles for stories I didn't write, I will respond with details of those non-written stories, or the actual story itself.

50 Titles Game (Matthew Zapruder)

This game is used by Matthew Zapruder in his poetry classes, but I think it works just as well with prose poems, short shorts, and fiction in general.

The writing exercise is thus: write 50 titles. Then, if you're with another person, switch lists and write poems for their titles. If by yourself, just use your own list. Being by yourself is incentive to go crazy and write titles that come uncensored to mind without fear others will see them. Being with another person makes it a challenge to see what kind of wacky titles you can come up with that they'll have to write about.

Trading Prompts

First, find a partner (or partners). This is the person you will trade prompts with.

Choose the number of prompts you will give each other (5-10 is generally a good starting place).

Separately come up with that number of prompts (you can choose a genre beforehand, if you like, for the prompts to suggest).

Exchange prompts. Come up with a time limit for writing, or a word limit for your stories, or both.

Write.

Come back together and share what you've written.

Sharing Prompts

Find a partner, or group of partners.

Make a list of prompts. Number them. (10-20 is a good base number.)

Choose the number of prompts you will use. (5-10 is good to start.)
Roll a die and use the prompts corresponding to the numbers you rolled.

Give yourselves a time limit and/or word limit. Write. Come back together and share what you've both come up with.

Luck of the List

There are three ways to do this, but all involve writing out a list of protagonists (the main character of your story); a list of love interests for the protagonist (this is optional, and can be changed to “villains” or anything else, really); a list of locations (the place where the major action in the story will take place); and a list of situations (the challenge your protagonist will face). You can use general prompts though—your list (or lists) don't have to be quite so structured.

Once you have your three (or four or one) lists, the random choosing begins!

Picking With Dice:
1. Pick out a die.
2. Make your lists—one for protagonists, one for love interests (if desired), one for locations, and one for problems—and write as many possibilities in each list as there are sides on your die.
3. Roll the die once for each list. You've now got your characters, a location, and situation for your story.

Alternative Selection Methods:
Note Cards: Write down your lists of characters, locations, and problems on a series of note cards. Shuffle each group and then pick one from each pile.
Playing Cards: Write down your lists of characters, locations, and problems. Assign a card to each item on your lists. Pick a card for the protagonist (and a second for love interest, if you like). Return the card(s) to the deck and shuffle. Pick out the a card for location. Return the card to the deck and shuffle. Pick out the card(s) for your problem/situation.

Now that you’ve got your main points for a story, the fun begins. Figure out how they all fit together, and write!

Round Robins

A Round Robin is a story written by a number of different people, either in an agreed upon order, or at random—whoever posts first directs that segment of plot. The overarching plotline is not agreed upon beforehand, and is steered by the posters as they try to form a coherent story together, paragraph by paragraph.

Please note: A coherent story is one that makes sense within its own universe, and makes sense to the reader. Not liking the direction the story is going in does not give you the right to change already established details or facts in the story’s milieu so things go the way you want. If the story is about elves hiding in New York, do not write in your post that the elves are actually a figment of a cyberpunk hero's imagination, and the setting is, in fact, post-apocalyptic New Zealand. That’s not fair to the people who’ve put effort into previous parts of the story. If you want a round robin about cyberpunks in post-apocalyptic New Zealand, then start a new round robin. Chances are, that’ll be right up someone’s alley.

Round robin posts can be anywhere from a line to a page, but should not be longer than that. People generally try to leave their posts at a cliffhanger, or a point where someone else can take over and make decisions about character reactions and story direction, rather than posting so that the next poster cannot change things in the least.

For the purposes of round robins with strangers, the round robin should not have pre-existing characters with which only a few of the participants are familiar. Since many hands will be manipulating all characters, feelings are bound to be hurt if someone writes something Character X “wouldn’t do.” So for first posters, come up with a mutable character and plotline about which there is some mystery, and let your view of the characters and world change with the story. Round robins are much more fun when people work together. In the end, having fun writing a good story is the aim of the game. ^_^

What If X Were True...

This game starts with a premise—“What if X were true?”—and then asks how that would effect various different people or groups.

Here's an example:
In a world where most people above the age of twelve have the ability to use magic as long as they get yearly government shots, what would happen...
...to a child too poor to get the shots when he attends a school where everyone else has magic?
...if the shots are revealed to have dangerous side effects?
...if the shots allow the government to control you with the push of a button?
...to convicted prisoners, who must adjust to life in prison where they are not given shots for fear they'd use magic to harm guards or escape?
...in a day of the life of someone who gets shots, and is used to using and seeing magic every day?

Books and Prompt Decks that are Good for Prompts
- Once Upon a Time -- a card game for creating fairy tales with friends. It's great for making up stories as a group, but just as fun as a solitary story-making tool.
- The Writer's Book of Matches -- a book of 1001 prompts, all of which can be modified according to a set of tables in the back...so really, there's 1001 prompts with dozens of variations each.