Friends have probably heard me say this, and say it several times over:
“I really feel like writing, but I have no idea about what.”
It happens to me all the time. I’ll have this burning urge to write coursing through my veins, and yet, when I go to put pen to paper (or text to word document)… nothing. I can’t even think where to begin, and my previous works? They just don’t want to flow.
That, my dears, is where generators come in. You may be wondering what a backup power supply has to do with writing… and the answer is, absolutely nothing. I’m talking about the computer application known as a generator. Those to us as writers take random strings of syllables, words, phrases, and/or sentences and put them together. There is a wide range of types, everything from name generators to plot generators to evil minion generators. Some are serious; others are silly. But they are a world of use to those of us who suffer the dreaded writer’s block.
Some people might be inclined to say that using generators is uncreative. To these people I say, bah! Like you, as a writer, have never drawn inspiration from an outside source. Don’t try to say you haven’t, because that would be a flat-out, low-down, no-good lie. Inspiration comes from within us but also from all around us; no idea is ever truly new. What matters is how you use it – how you make an idea your own.
Generators are all about that. The generator isn’t writing your story for you, after all. It’s giving you a string of random text for you to include, interpret, and/or expand upon in whatever way you wish.
For example, using Seventh Sanctum’s Vampire Generator, I came up with this:
This romantic vampire has narrow gunmetal-gray eyes. His fine, straight, chestnut hair is worn in a style that reminds you of a trailing ribbon. He is inhumanly tall and has an elegant build. His skin is cream-colored. He can turn into a butterfly. If attacked with weapons made of iron, he will die. His diet requires blood of males. His outfits are complicated.
Nice, nice. A good basis for a character. It gives me a very general idea of who this person is. But it’s not a character yet; I still have some polishing to do.
Gunmetal gray eyes are pretty, we’ll keep that- not too dark, nor too light, but medium gunmetal, with darker flecks. Coming to the hair… brunette sounds good, but chestnut brings to mind a color a little too red for this guy, in my mental image. I say his hair’s more a medium-dark sepia, and for a nice touch, let’s add a few streaks of premature gray. “Like a trailing ribbon” to me says that it’s long, probably about mid-back length, and tied back at the base of the neck. Inhumanly tall is a little strong… let’s say he’s just rather tall or taller than average. I adore the cream-colored skin… maybe some scant, faded freckles, evidence of a now-abandoned connection with the sun. The outfit being complicated could mean a great number of things; I think I’m going to interpret it as stylish and properly accessorized.
As for powers… I’m not sure how much I really like the whole butterfly thing. I mean, it doesn’t sound terribly useful or neat, so I might strike it totally. Then again, it is sort of a romantic notion. There might be some use for it yet, so we’ll tuck it away as a “maybe”. The iron weakness is kind of debilitating, considering iron weapons can’t be hard to come by, but let’s live dangerously, shall we? Everyone has their weaknesses, so that probably stays, and hopefully I can come up with some sort of explanation for it. Diet requires the blood of males, hmm? Well, that screams possibilities to me, but not necessarily. We’ll just have to see what he does with it. It’s my head, so one outcome is likely (over 66% likely!), but you never know. But it’s definitely an interesting limitation, so it stays for sure.
Of course, he still needs more physical customization- his build, his voice, his facial structure, the way he walks, and so forth- and an expansion of his abilities, a better idea just what he can and can’t do. His personality is very underdeveloped, and will have to be explored far more fully. But we have here an example of where a handfull of basic descriptors can take you. I’m now on the way to gaining a new headperson.
So if you’re stuck, want to try something new, or are just utterly bored, give them a try. I’ll wrap the post up with a list of some of my favorite distractions genertators:
- Seventh Sanctum - The motherload of generators. Seriously. It has everything. Among my favorites are the Quick Character Generator, the Fangirl Fantasy Generator, the Quick Character Namer, and the Brain Hurting Fanfic Pairer (no, I didn’t just make that up).
- Serendipity -Some of these are intended for Les Mis fanfiction but most of them are pretty general. On the whole they’re richly creative. I especially love the Ethnicity, City, Room, and the outfit generators, but lots of them are good.
- Fantasy Name Generator - This is probably pretty much what you expect it to be. However, it builds names out of fragments and has a bunch of different settings (a few humorous, too). You can come up with some really awesome-sounding names; sometimes it’s just the perfect thing.
- Cool Bits Story Generator – Probably the best plot generator ever. What could be better than a bunch of elements people think are cool, combined in a variety of ways? Sometimes they come out like the coolest idea you’ve ever heard. Other times they come out painfully, unintentionally hilarious.
Happy randomizing!
