I probably would have kept walking--it's kind of gimmicky, and that's not really my thing, but it was only twelve bucks so I figured what the heck.
The Little Red Writing Kit includes four "Instant Plot" dice, fifty scene cards, a dry erase marker and a guide to writing better structure and style.
I got home and flipped through the book. I was expecting it to explain how to use the dice, but instead I found twenty miniature writing lessons, full of examples and exercises. I won't say the lessons were all brilliant, and several of them were not designed for novel-writers, but it was a nice refresher course.
The dice are cute. You roll them to find out what you're going to write about. You have a Hero die, has options for a male or female protagonist, an anti-hero (of either gender), a non-human, and child protagonist. The plot die provides the story's narrative plot, with options like Quest, Escape, or Revenge. The genre die determines (wait for it) the story's genre. The final die determines your plot twist. Things like Dead End or Trap show up with that one.
After you've got your protagonist, plot, genre, and twist, it's time to get working on your scene cards. The cards are coated in plastic, so the dry erase marker wipes off. Great for people like me that change their mind about a thousand times. This is where you map out the story, work out the kinks, without having to make a comprehensive outline.
I don't know how well this method works. I've seen similar exercises online, but this is the first time I've played around with the idea myself. It's fun, but I haven't actually sat down to write anything yet. We'll see how it goes.
Bottom line, if you happen to come across this cute box set in the book store, you might consider picking it up. Especially if you can find it for under fifteen dollars. If nothing else, it's a great way to exercise your creative writing muscle.
Sounds like a fun game to play even if you don't get the most amazing results. I'm sure it will get the creative juices flowing.
ReplyDeleteYou'll have to let me know how this works.
I'm not really sure how committed I'd be to a story that came out of this method. Inspiration is a big part of why and how I write. I like this kit more for a warm up before I sit down to work on my more serious projects. But who knows, maybe something fantastic and unexpected will come from it! I'll let you know.
DeleteWe once went on a road trip where we used dice to see where we'd end up. if the number was even, we'd go left, odd, right. Somehow we ended up going out for ice cream a few blocks away from my house.
ReplyDeleteGood times, good times.
Sounds like a fun story-telling game. I bet my kids would like it.
That sounds like my kind of road trip!
DeleteIf your kids enjoy writing games, I am sure they'd love it. As I went through the instructions and flipped through the book, I kept thinking how great this would be for older kids or teenagers. It sort of lends itself to that age group.
This does sound like fun. I wonder if you could use it to make a collaborative story - each person roll a dice and then come up w. a short story together. Or everyone makes their own story from the prompts. I could see something like this working well as a creative family activity. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteI wish my kids were old enough to do this with. That sounds like a great idea!
DeleteI sent a copy of this post to my daughter's high school creative writing teacher (who also happens to be a friend). It does sound like fun.
ReplyDeleteOh, I hope your daughter's teacher likes it! I think you could probably find them on Amazon, though I bought mine at Barnes and Noble.
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