Writing Roulette: All the Generators You'd Ever Want, Part 2

Note to readers:
I've gone through all the links and have fixed all the broken ones. If you're found some good generators that I don't have, leave a note in the comments and I'll be sure to add that in (and credit you for your efforts!). And if you find broken links, please let me know. Thank you so much!

Today is day two of generators for story ideas. If you missed part one, go check it out now. The list was so long, I had to split it into two posts. Have fun!


Setting
Terrain Generator: comes up with descriptive forests and oceans
City Generator: build your own description with nineteen different aspects.
City Map Generator: make a map of your setting with your own parameters.
Medieval Fantasy City Generator: this one has lots of options.
More City Maps: this site allows you to generate "endless maps of walled cities, complete with castles and winding waterways". 
3-D City Maps: zoom in on the buildings in the city you create.
Blank Fantasy Maps: Sedeslav has created some wonderful fantasy maps where you can insert your own names of towns, kingdoms, and rivers. Highly recommended. Map 1 | Map 2 | Map 3 | Map 4 

For Fun
Drink Generator: helpful for fantasy and sci-fi writers
Decision Generator: for you or your character, this answers the question: should you or shouldn't you?
Random Phrase Generator


More sites to check out:
The Forge: Generators for fantasy names, creatures, spells, and settings.
Serendipity: a huge amount of generators, names, characters, setting, clothing, swear words, and more.
Chaotic Shiny: another large collection, including culture, accessories, and diseases, and much more.
Seventh Sanctum: more generators, with superheroes, magic, and humor, among many others.
Where the Map Ends: more generators for language, villains, and fantasy characters.
The Generator Blog keeps up with new generators that come along.

Do you have any favorite generators to add to the list? Leave a link in the comments.

Other posts in the series:
Resources for plotting a novel
Generators, Part 1

Writing Roulette: All the Generators You'd Ever Want, Part 1

Note to readers:
I've gone through all the links and have fixed all the broken ones. If you're found some good generators that I don't have, leave a note in the comments and I'll be sure to add that in (and credit you for your efforts!). And if you find broken links, please let me know. Thank you so much!

While I'm still getting back on my feet, this week I'll post a couple of my most popular posts. The generators in this post and the following one are some of the most-searched for through Google. If you've got other generators to suggest, leave a note in the comments. Here's hoping one of these generators will give you the inspiration you need!

Continuing the series of resources from the NaNoWriMo forums, I discovered all kinds of threads with links to generators for writers. What's a generator? It's kind of like playing roulette with story ideas.

Let's say you need a name for a particular walk-on character. It's a man, who hails from Brazil. You could spend all kinds of time researching, or you can click over to a random name generator that is specific by country. Voila! Your character is no longer nameless.

You may not need all these generators, and admittedly, some are more frivolous than others. But there may be a few you want to bookmark that will come in handy in the future.

Plot
Terrible Things Generator: helpful if you can't think of more trouble for your character.
Plot Generator: a beginning, middle, and end to get you started.
Plot Scenario Generator: try these ideas on for size.
Random Story Generator: a complete plot in a paragraph.
Story Idea Generator: similar to the one above.

Titles
Random Title Generator: gives you six random titles that are actually pretty good!
Abstract Art Title Generator: uses art to come up with titles, and links to Google so you can see if that title has ever been used.

Characters
Appearance Generator: choose either a simple or detailed description.
Motive Generator: what makes your character do what they do?
Quirks Generator: Give your character an unusual twist.
Bulk Character Generator: need lots of walk-on characters? Let this generator do the heavy lifting.
Everyday Problem Generator: helps make your character feel real.
Character Generator: gives you a character flaws and weaknesses.
Assorted Generators: particularly fairy tale names

Names
Fantasy Name Generator
Steampunk Name Generator
Elf Name Generator
Fake Name Generator: includes lots of details like height, weight, occupation, and birthdate
Random Name Generator: this one includes many ethnicities to choose from, plus the name's history and meaning.
Favorite Name Generator: choose names you like, and the software comes up with new ones.

Random Establishment Name Generator: find a tavern name.

And here's a new one: a fantasy language generator. There is a paid version, but feel free to use the free version to test it out.

Come back tomorrow for generators on setting, fun stuff, and sites that have collections of even more generators.

Do you have any favorite generators to add to the list? Leave a link in the comments.

Other posts in the series:
Resources for plotting a novel.
Generators, Part 2.

Calling all nosy writers!

 I'm a nosy writer. Are you? I love to hear more about what other people are writing, how they got their ideas, and what inspires them. I don't generally do memes, but I haven't really written much about my own WIP, so I figure it's time to share (Plus, it's a snowy day here in the mountains!). And I hope some of you share back with the link at the bottom.

I was tagged by Australian Trisha, and Canadian S.M. Carriere. Check out their contemporary and fantasy books. It's so interesting (and encouraging) to see the vast differences in the time frame different writers take in their creative process. 

 1. What is the name of your book?
SpindleWish

2. Where did the idea for your book come from?
Believe it or not, from a contest prompt (more details in question 9). But I love the idea of imagining "the rest of the story". In this Sleeping Beauty retelling, the princess is not so nice. Think about it. Growing up with a curse on your head isn't ideal, but it hasn’t done much for the princess' personality. Just ask her long-suffering chambermaid.

3. In what genre would you classify your book?
SpindleWish is young adult historical fantasy. It's set in medieval Croatia. If you're curious as to how this came about (and you want to see some amazing pictures), I wrote about my journey to this setting, and how it did wonders for my plot.

4. If you had to pick actors to play your characters in a movie rendition, who would you choose?
My characters are drawn from people I've met, or photos I find online. For this book, one of my daughters (see photo) and my sister's daughter play two of the main roles. Another character, a fascinating peddler, was put together through internet research. I shared some great links to where I found him in this post about describing characters.

5. Give us a one-sentence synopsis of your book.
Waking after a century, Sleeping Beauty’s chambermaid vows to find the powerful blood-tipped spindle before it can be used to destroy the remaining faeries. 

6. Is your book already published? Self-published or traditional?
Nope. I'm finishing the last of it, then I'll work on querying agents. I'm not ruling out self-publishing, but I really believe the querying process can help motivate me to make my writing stronger. 

7. How long did it take you to write your book?
I began in late 2009, but I've taken some long breaks! Probably a year, total.
 
8. What other books within your genre would you compare it to? Or, readers of which books would enjoy yours?
I love the stories of Shannon Hale, Donna Jo Napoli, Juliet Marillier and Robin McKinley.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?
The Enchanted Conversation was holding a submission contest. The topic was Sleeping Beauty, but writers had to imagine what life would be like once the palace woke up from 100 years of sleep. Once I came up with the idea that the blood on the spindle was the critical issue, plot ideas started popping up and away I went. I never did submit to that contest.

10. Tell us anything that might pique our interest in your book.        

 I loved exploring the theme of discovering inner strength through this book.

Now it's your turn to inspire the rest of us. Write a post with answers to the same (or similar) questions. Then come back here and share the link. I'll leave the link open for a week (till midnight on Nov. 2nd). I'm looking forward to finding out more about your stories.
 

Tips for Setting in Your Novel

When you're writing a novel, sometimes the plot calls for quite a few scenes in the same location. Say, you're writing a sci-fi novel, and most scenes are set on a starship. Or, your main character is imprisoned in a tower for months. Or, has a dead-end job in a factory. I'm sure you can think of books where one setting recurs often.

How does a writer differentiate the scenes, so it doesn't feel like a continuation of the same thing? Of course, the plot will move things along, and hopefully your character is changing little by little. But here are some other possibilities to add variety:

Change the location. Kind of a no-brainer, but it takes creativity to pull off. You can switch to another character's point of view, and tell what's happening to the main character from a different perspective. This secondary character doesn't even have to be in the "main" location, but can be elsewhere in your world, maybe discussing the MC with another secondary character. Or, you can take your main character out of the  'usual' location for some reason. The hero on the starship can stop to explore a new world, or have to visit a neighboring ship for some reason. The character in the tower can try an unsuccessful escape attempt, or could be brought in for further questioning. The factory worker might need to train in another area, or might be part of a company picnic.

Change the weather. Throw in a storm, an asteroid field, a drought, an eclipse, a swarm of locusts. It will force your characters to react to the situation in new ways, and might inspire some plot twists.

Change the atmosphere. The mood and tension in your story should never stay the same, even if the setting does. An impending event, a deadline, a major injury, a rejection, a big evaluation, a potential war, a holiday: all these things will change the feel of the story.

Change the participants. Adding a character, or on the other hand, removing a character your MC has come to depend on changes the dynamics in a huge way.  Choose characters that will add either positive or negative tension. Maybe a grasping, conniving coworker for the starship recruit, an abused and rescued dog for the prisoner, and a suspiciously flirtatious new supervisor for the factory worker.

One book that does a great job with this challenge is Book of a Thousand Days, by Shannon Hale.

What else would you change in a story with a repeated setting? Do you know of other books where the author has handled it well?

They've Done It Again: Check Out the Weather Thesaurus

The talented ladies of The Bookshelf Muse don't seem to rest. You may remember the post a while back about the emotion thesaurus, setting thesaurus, symbolism thesaurus, and color, shape & texture thesaurus.

Well Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman are cooking up something new. It's a weather thesaurus. Weather can be such a huge part of a novel's setting, and these bloggers remind us that weather can also play into, or reflect a character's mood or the level of tension.

It makes me wonder where I'm missing opportunities to use weather more in my novel (though we do have to be careful not to go overboard). In one scene, my main character is leaving everything she knows and heading off on a journey she's certain she's not qualified for. I chose to have a steady rain reflect her thoughts.

Words puddle in my head, drowning out the fat drops pounding about me, gluing leaves to the path and spattering my gown and cloak with muddy water. I’m thankful the downpour prevents conversation, for I need time alone with my thoughts. Were I able, I would pluck each idea like polished river stones and line them up for examination. But they are caught by the current in my head, and I can scarcely think on one for a moment, before another takes its place.

I need to think through my finished chapters to make sure I haven't made the mistake of having sunny days throughout the book. Maybe I'll write in a little fog, or a hailstorm. I'll definitely be checking The Bookshelf Muse for ideas.

How have you used weather in your writing?

And don't forget, if you'd like me to mention your blog on Thursday, leave a comment with a link and a description.

Take a Walk With Your Character: New Features on Google Earth

Church of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio

I've just spent the last week walking the streets of Palermo, Sicily. I've been window shopping along the avenues, taking in the fabulous architecture of the churches and cathedrals, and checked out the view of the Mediterranean from the shore.

And I haven't spent a penny.

For that matter, I haven't left my chair. I've been researching my next novel, a historical fantasy set in this ancient Sicilian city. My time and budget won't allow me to jet off to the Mediterranean just now, so Google Earth is my best friend. And the latest version (Google Earth 6) has bells and whistles I never expected.

You may dismiss this post as irrelevant, since you write science fiction, or historical fiction, or perhaps a tale set at the bottom of the ocean. Perhaps your story has fantastical buildings you'd never find on this planet. Don't click away yet. Google Earth has something for you, too.

First of all, Google Earth is a free download, so it's worthwhile to play around with until you decide if it's helpful to you. When it opens, a box will pop up with "start up tips". Don't close this box. It's your personal tour of the amazing tools just waiting to inspire you. Here's what I've had fun playing with so far.

Time Slider. Let's say your novel is set on the slopes of Mount Everest. You'll have Google Earth "fly" you to your location, but maybe your character is trapped on the mountain, watching the sun getting lower, and pondering his chances of survival. Never having been to Mount Everest, you may be at a loss as to how the sun sets (or rises) in relation to the mountain. Just use the time slider to watch dusk, dawn, shadows on the slopes--whatever you need.

Explore the Moon. Believe it or not, you, too, can land on the moon! Tour the landing sites of astronauts, zoom in on 3D models of space craft, and even watch video of moon landings.

Build your own city. Google Earth allows users to design their own buildings with Building Maker. You can place your creations anywhere on the planet. Maybe you're writing a dystopian novel set in a desert, and you can't find the buildings you've imagined. Create them yourself, set them in the Sahara, and you can "fly through" your imaginary city.

Don't forget the trees. The latest version of Google Earth has mapped out the location of specific trees in certain areas of the planet. You can even fly to the Amazon and "walk" through the rainforest, noting the particular trees all around you.

Time Travel. Let's say your novel is set in 1900s San Francisco. Once you "fly" to the location, if there are historical maps available for the area you choose, they'll be indicated by a historical imagery button. You can slide from the present all the way back through images of various time periods, even "walking the streets" of a particular era. This is amazingly helpful for historical fiction.

Are oceans your thing? Google Earth lets you fly over any ocean, or if you prefer, you can fly beneath the oceans surface, exploring the terrain at the bottom of the sea. A fantastic resource if you write about submarine travel, or imagine a civilization on the ocean floor.

Google Earth has much more that I haven't played with yet, but it's a great (and cheap!) resource for writers working to make their settings come alive.

Would Google Earth help you with your storyworld?

Camping Out in Your Storyworld

I went camping this past weekend. The weather was perfect. The view was breathtaking. The company was fascinating. And it got me thinking about my storyworld.


Creating a storyworld is an art. Whether it's a contemporary setting in your own town, or a mystical forest on another planet, getting the sense of it on paper, so your reader is there, is a tough job.


One exercise that helps me, is camping out in my storyworld. What that means is I will choose a day in which I experience everything just as if I lived in that setting.


If I'm watching the sun come up, I imagine what it would look like in the world of my story. Are the colors I see touching mountain peaks or a smog-filled cityscape? How will my main character view this particular sunrise? Is she resigned to another day, untouched by the beauty, or does the scene remind her of someone in her past?

If your story is a fantasy, you’ll wonder other things. How many suns are there? How often do they rise? What colors can you imagine for such an alien world?

Even if you’re pouring yourself a cup of coffee, think through what your characters will have to do to get a hot drink in your story. Whether it’s hitting the local coffee shop because their ratty apartment doesn’t have a coffee maker, or trying to start a fire on the Icelandic tundra, it will help you live the lives of your characters.

Don’t forget your villain. They live there, too. You might be surprised to discover that your “bad guy” tears up watching a mother and child on the playground. Or that someone taking the last spot in the elevator will bring your antagonist fits of rage. These storyworld experiences will have you asking “why”. They’ll help you get to know your characters more deeply.

Each of us is affected by the world we live in. How crowded or uncrowded it is. What kinds of transportation we use. The methods with which we choose to communicate. The ease (or lack thereof) of obtaining the necessities of life.

Why not try walking through today in your storyworld?  The experience might bring dimension to your descriptions, and depth to your characters.

It’s worth a try.

The photo above is one I shot while backpacking at 11,000 feet elevation a few summers ago.