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Tuesday 10 August 2010

Can I pick your creative brains?

Okay, so I kind of need some help. From you, my much-loved blog readers.

With WHERE SHE LINGERS sitting in a couple agents' inboxes waiting to be read, I'm kind of trying very hard to work on something new and exciting to take my mind off Echo and echoes altogether. (Yeah, okay, so I'm not doing very well, but I'm trying, all right?)

At the moment, however, all I have are old unfinished projects and old ideas, none of which have given me that excited spark - that moment where I think yes, I must, must, must write this right now! So how about a game involving completely random/creative thought and helping me?

I promise it'll be short and sweet. All I ask is that in the comments, you give me

a setting
an unusual profession/hobby/character type
and a completely random word

The setting can be anything from 'Venice' to 'an old vicarage' to 'tower' to 'bedroom'. Places, names, rooms, types of buildings, anything. The second one's more fun - suggestions can be pretty much anything, from 'clock-making' to 'crocodile hunter'. And the random word is just that. Any word. So, for example:

Venice
Clock-making
Boot

or

An old vicarage
Falcon wrangler
Espionage

Ya know?

The point is that I hope something in the comments, or some combination of words, will trigger off an idea for me. Even if it's just a spark that turns into a story.

So I would love, love, love for you guys to help me out here!

I hope that it'll be fun for you to play along, but as a teeny extra incentive, anyone who joins in gets two extra entries in my giveaway. Click on the link for more details if you have no idea what my giveaway's about!

So that's my plea for the day.

In other news, Keris Stainton's having an amazing giveaway on her blog! She's giving away fifteen books, so if that sounds like your kinda thing (oh, go on, you know it does), then this is where you need to click.

17 comments:

  1. Tokyo 2020 after the disappearance of 80% of people over 80 years old.

    Retired journalist.

    Adventure!
    ---
    Crossing my fingers for your queries. : j

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  2. An English bluebell wood after an April shower
    Saddler
    Bobbydazzler

    Good luck, Sangu and hope it helps! xxx

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  3. Oh this sounds much fun! Even if it doesn't spark off a full story, I'd love for you to develop and share some sort of character sketches using these ideas.

    Sitting on the branch of a large tree
    Medium
    Hobnob

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  4. Oooh, yay, some great ones so far, thanks so much!

    That's quite a detailed setting, Alesa, but an incredibly intriguing one! Do I sense an idea creeping in? (I hope! :-))

    Vix, I think bobbydazzler's got to be the most amazing word ever. I'm going to find a way to use it in a story, one way or another!

    Alex, that's a great idea! I think I will come up with some character and place sketches even if I don't get a whole story out of all this! Though I wouldn't count the story out yet... :-)

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  5. Great idea - I don't know if it'll help you, but it can't hurt, right? :) It should be interesting to see what everyone says. How about...
    A playground at night
    A female mechanic who's a princess at heart
    A Key
    :)

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  6. I actually left a lot out. There's been a running story in the news in japan lately and I had fun imagining a handful of story seeds from it.

    @Vintage Vixen: I had never heard of a bluebell wood! Sounds awesomely picturesque. : j

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  7. Koh Samui, Thailand

    Grease monkey by day, drag queen by night

    International scandal

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  8. The inside of a vacuum bag (alternate world/microcosm of this one)...

    Thumbelina-type superhero...

    The motivationally challenged inhabitants need encouragement to break out.

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  9. A baby about to be born
    Agoraphobic
    synæsthesia

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  10. Okay...

    - A stinky old skip behind the local comprehensive.

    - A pipe maker

    - Smear ('coz I hate that word so much!)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hiding under the table in a fancy restaurant

    A bubblologist (Someone who studies bubbles, it's a real job!)

    Antidisestablishmentarianism (The longest word in the English language.)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Setting : Present day London in a world where the Roman Empire never fell.

    Occupation : Tutor to the sadistic daughter of the senile Ceasar (say that 3 times fast.)

    Random word : Revolution.

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  13. New York City when it was still New Amsterdam circa 1600s.
    The seamstress who makes ladies shifts and corsets.
    Pirate

    ReplyDelete
  14. Setting: a glass-bottom boat
    Character: a chicken sexer
    Word: menu

    I can't get any more random. I'll be entering in your giveaway tonight. Thanks for the bonus points! :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. a disco club
    shoe repair apprentice
    whiskers

    Good luck finding your inspiration!

    ReplyDelete