Indoor fun on a cold Saturday

A Request: Thank you for coming to the site and reading my stories. I’ve shared stories on a wide variety of topics, from painting to politics. I’ve used a number of writing styles, including haiku, political satire, fractured fairy tale, and creative nonfiction. I’ve shared photographs of the change of season. I’ve shared a creative writing exercise and, below, I’m going to share another one.

Now, I have a favor to ask of you. I’d like for you to ask me questions. Is there anything that you’d like to know? What questions would you like to ask of me? Would you like another writing exercise? Another fractured fairy tale (you choose the story)? Please… ask me anything! Tomorrow, I will answer questions. So, please leave a comment below and ask me a question! Thank you!

Today’s creative writing exercise involves a random scenario generator. This is a creative writing exercise that you can do by yourself or with a group. In fact, it could be a good deal of fun with a group. You can use an online generator, such as this one: random scenario generator link

I’m going to share three examples of using the random scenario generator.The goal is to brainstorm ideas so that, at some point, you can create a story.

Here is the first random scenario that I got:
“You wake up in the night and turn on the light but it’s not working. What are the possible reasons for this?”

So, here goes:

The bulb is burned out

The electricity is out

You had a wild dream and you unplugged the lamp in your sleep

The lamp was stolen and replaced with a toy

Space aliens stole the lamp and replaced it with a nonfunctional lamp

You’ve been transported back in time while you were asleep and you are now in prehistoric times

You were kidnapped by vampires and there is no lamp where you are because vampires don’t like light

The second random scenario:

You are at the reading of a will of a family member. Everyone thought that she was poor, but it turns out that she’s worth millions. How did she get so rich?

she made secret investments
she was married to the mob and was paid off not to tell on her (now imprisoned) ex-spouse
she robbed a bank
she was a famous writer who used a pen name and was very secretive and avoided interviews
she found a previously unknown famous painting in the garage of a house that she purchased for next to no money
she invented something that was a huge success and she collected large royalty checks

The third random scenario:

A friend has been staying with you since his relationship breakup. He has overstayed his welcome, but you don’t want to ask him to leave. Think of an imaginative scheme to make him decide to go.

tell him that there is an infestation of ants in the kitchen and that everyone has to vacate the premises for the next two weeks while the exterminators are fumigating the entire house
show him your new pet python
serve him his least favorite food for dinner
place a change of address card on his pillow
fill your house with cats and inform him that you are now the Crazy Cat Lady. Place five litter boxes in his room

Go for it and enjoy. And don’t forget to ask me questions! Happy Saturday!