Write A Random Story With Cheryl!

When we were at Capricon, Cheryl and I went to a panel called The Short Story As Art Form, with Donald J. Bingle, Clifford Royal Johns, Kelly Swails, and Joy Ward. Afterwards, Cheryl said she might be interested in trying her hand at short stories, but it would be easier if she were writing them to order. That is, if her friends assigned her stories to write within certain parameters, she’d find it easier to get started.

No problem. I love telling other people what to do. I could have gone to the internet for ideas. There are plenty o’ writing prompt generators out there, like Language is a Virus and Adam Maxwell’s. However, I created this story randomizer for her, just because it’s fun to come up with lists and categories.

Happy Valentine’s Day, Cheryl!

Here are the rules:

Pick at least 2 (and up to 5) of the following categories:

• Genre
• Character
• Attribute
• Problem
• Setting

Once you’ve decided how many categories you want constraining you, pull out your gaming dice, if you have them. If you don’t have many-sided dice, you can use an online random number generator, like this one. Roll whichever kind of dice the category calls for, and note the result.

Genre (roll a 10-sided dice)

1. western
2. traditional fantasy
3. urban fantasy
4. magic realism
5. science fiction
6. steam punk
7. mystery
8. thriller
9. paranormal
10. romance

Character (roll a 20-sided dice)

1. orphan
2. wizard
3. soldier
4. peasant
5. king or queen
6. prince or princess
7. charlatan
8. rogue
9. priest
10. teacher
11. lawyer
12. accountant
13. witch
14. vampire
15. giant
16. engineer
17. sociopath
18. doctor
19. artist
20. crime boss

Attribute (roll a 20-sided dice)

1. beautiful
2. brave
3. cowardly
4. blind
5. deaf
6. mute
7. wise
8. selfish
9. intelligent
10. stupid
11. greedy
12. generous
13. meek
14. arrogant
15. vain
16. humble
17. officious
18. helpful
19. curious
20. blasé

Problem (roll a 10-sided dice)

1. theft
2. natural disaster (e.g., hurricane, earthquake, flood)
3. killing
4. unrequited love
5. a lie
6. betrayal
7. illness
8. old age
9. separation from (a) loved one(s)
10. the apocalypse

Setting (roll a 20-sided dice)

1. city or village
2. forest or jungle
3. farm or ranch
4. temple or church
5. battlefield
6. hospital
7. office
8. coffee shop
9. mountain
10. shore
11. space station
12. abandoned ruins
13. haunted house
14. locked room
15. laboratory
16. cemetery
17. ship
18. polar wilderness
19. castle
20. school

I’d hate for Cheryl to get bored, so I rolled for every last freaking category. My results were 9, 15, 17, 2, and 9, in that order.

So: I am suggesting she write a paranormal story about an officious giant who’s dealing with a natural disaster on a mountain.

Here’s what I’d do if I were Cheryl: I’d ask me who I thought I was kidding. However, I might roll my own results and see if I could live with the story the dice suggested. Or…I might just look at the lists and pick my favorite answer for each category, or otherwise come up with a combination I found interesting. If I ever find out what Cheryl did with this little exercise, I’ll let you know.