Brainstorming with Writing Prompts by Karen Freemn-Smith Smashwords Edition Copyright 2012 Thank you for downloading this free eBook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. If you enjoyed this book, please return to Smashwords.com to discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support. How-To Use Free Writing Prompts from Plagerize.Me to Brainstorm Your Next Story INTRODUCTION: Plagerize.Me is a website that creates automated writing prompts. The software is online and free. It can generate trillions of different combinations of characters, plots, settings and themes that can help you get started plotting your next novel or short story. Using writing prompts to build a story is like putting a puzzle together. A good story will answer some basic questions: Who? - What? - When? - Where? - Why? - and How? To show you how our automated writing prompts can work for you, I will use an example of one of the randomly generated story ideas: Bruce's Quest The story generator starts with a title. This title tells me the main character is Bruce - and he has a quest. What does Bruce want? I'll look at the other puzzle pieces to try to find out. WORKING WITH CHARACTERS: I've got 6 character suggestions for my story – Tommy Silva (43) - butcher – Bruce Cain (51) - financial adviser – Denise Holloway (23) - construction supervisor – Audrey Turner (37) - network administrator – Thomas Terry (21) - student – Frank Byrd (79) - retired kindergarten teacher Bruce is kind of an old guy - mid life - and he wants to be a star. He's a financial adviser, and that makes me think these other characters might be his clients. They don't seem to be the rich folks you think about having a financial adviser, but who better to show your true talents with than ordinary, or even financially challenged people? So maybe Bruce's Quest is to make all 5 of these other characters millionaires through his excellent financial advice. HOW DOES SETTING AFFECT YOUR STORY? The setting for this story is "the present time in Nashville, TN." Just knowing that it's Nashville makes me think of country music. Many settings will give you ideas like that. But you can get more ideas by doing a little research. Check Google and Wikipedia to learn more about the place (and time) of your story. Imagine your characters in this place and how they will react to their surroundings. Do they love their hometown or hate it and want to leave? Did they grow up there - or did they move there later? Why? What places in town do they hang out? Where do they work? Setting can add lots of interesting details. Mostly, how does living in Nashville impact Bruce's quest? Does he suggest investing in the music industry, or avoid it because it's too familiar? Are there other industries around Nashville that could make his clients rich? Or is the location particularly challenging because it's so far away from Wall Street? DESIGNING A PLOT: In Ronald B. Tobias' book, "20 Master Plots: And How to Build Them", he describes how all stories can be broken down into 20 basic plots. Our generator follows his thoughts on plot by suggesting one of these 20 plots for your story. In this case, it is the "Transformation Plot". The transformation plot is character driven - it is about how your character changes during the course of the story. How does Bruce's quest change him? Does he discover something important about himself, or the other characters in the story, or people in general? Does he become more idealistic or more jaded in the course of his quest? WHY DO YOU NEED A THEME? Theme can help answer the question about what kind of transformation Bruce undergoes. In this case, our theme is "sloth" - one of the seven deadly sins. Who is being slothful? Is it Bruce or his clients? What is the result of that sloth? Maybe Bruce succeeds in his quest and our other characters are all transformed into millionaires without much real work on their part. What are the consequences of their sloth in that case? How does this affect Bruce? Or maybe Bruce is the slothful one and his clients have to deal with the consequences. Chances are you already know where this story should go. You know because you already have some ideas about the consequence of sloth. Your ideas may not be the same as mine, or your parents, or your kids. They are YOUR ideas - even if you never really take them out and consciously examine them. Your ideas about these "big topics" make you unique. Letting them influence your stories will make your stories unique and lasting as well. I LOVE THIS STORY! but what if you don't? Well, it's easy enough to hit that button at the top of the page and try another set of prompts. I would be surprised if every set of prompts left you feeling energized and ready to write the next best-seller. But there are plenty more, and after a few tries you should find your creative juices are flowing strong enough to break through any writer's block you may be suffering from. You can get your own story started at http://plagerize.me. . Brainstorming with Writing Prompts by Karen Freemn-Smith Smashwords Edition Copyright 2012 Thank you for downloading this free eBook. You are welcome to share it with your friends works by this author. Thank you for your support. How-To Use Free Writing Prompts from Plagerize.Me to Brainstorm Your Next Story INTRODUCTION: Plagerize.Me is a website that creates automated writing. you how our automated writing prompts can work for you, I will use an example of one of the randomly generated story ideas: Bruce's Quest The story generator starts with a title. This title