Plot your historical romance at random

Dear readers,

Another genre that you never have to think of your own plot idea for again. You can thank me later.

The Stupendous Random Historical Romance Roller (pdf)

As pointed out in previous comments, there are virtual dice available online if you don’t happen to have the right polyhedrons just lying around. This said, I have faith in the essential geekiness of my audience.

All the best,

Joel

Plot your SF at random

Dear readers,

Another in the series of tools for the inspirationally challenged. This week it’s the turn of SF and there are over 55 million possible plots, none of them particularly feasible:

The Fantastic Random SF Roller (pdf)

Enjoy, and don’t forget to share your results.

All the best,

Joel

Plot your folktale at random

Dear readers,

Continuing last week’s experiment in randomly generated storytelling, here is another tool for your writerly toolbox. There are fewer possible outcomes this time, but the results are more genre-specific:

The Incredible Random Folktale Roller (pdf)

All the best,

Joel

Plot your story at random

Dear readers,

Hello. It’s been too long. A How To Write Badly Well book has now been put together and is with the publisher. I will, of course, keep you updated. In the meantime, I thought we could try something a bit different.

Authors are asked all the time where their ideas come from. Usually they mumble something about scenic walks or reading the newspaper, then mention the title of their book again and glance meaningfully towards a bookshop. In an attempt to answer this tricky question once and for all, I have decided to turn storytelling into a quantifiable science (this has, in fact, been done before – see Vladimir Propp). To this end, I present the first in a series of handy tools for the muse-averse writer:

The Amazing Random Blurb Roller (pdf)

Use it wisely and please feel free to post your results in the comments section below.

All the best,

Joel