Packing Heat 005: Get Random
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Last Episode
Hey all! Last episode, I challenged you to write like thewind for 15 minutes and take a word count. How’d it go?My stricter, 15-minutetime in which I KNEW what was going to happen next in my story and I didn’thave to think much about it was: 419Obviously, you won’t be able to write at this rate all thetime and end up with 1600 words per hour. These are sprints, not marathons. Butknowing that you are capable of doing a few hundred words in fifteen minutesmight make you more psyched to write if you’ve only got 15-20 minutesavailable, say in the morning before work or during a break, and that’ll beenough to keep you connected to your storyverse and excited about your project.
Generating Story Prompts
One of Mur Lafferty's listeners came up with the tip of pulling names for characters out of your junk mail folder. And here I thought I'd come up with that idea myself 
- www.seventhsanctum.com
- http://isbw.murlafferty.com
Summarize It
Your Assignment
OR
Pick a name out of your spam filter and describe what this person looks like, and what he/she likes to do in bed!
Carlton Watson - He's an old adventurer type, like Sean Connery in League of Extrodinary Gentleman. He goes on adventures and falls head over heels for the local women, the more exotic, the better.
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RANDOM IDEA: This story takes place in a village on a war-scarred planet. In it, a traveler searching for truth is forced to work with an altruistic poet. What starts as a one-night stand soon turns into true love - all thanks to a betrayal. What role will a football player who has several nervous habits play in their relationship?
I am thinking this is like a Flash Gordon type of story. Yes, Flash has been done to death, reinvented at least 3 times since the 30's, and is little more than a comic book that never really could break past Batman and Superman and the X-Men. He could be this fabled hero guy who in real life is just the poster-boy for a revolution who isn't all he is billed. In real life, he is challenged and constantly is trying to compensate for a poor self-image. His nervous habits: he smokes (a lot), he must always walk and even number of steps and will be upset if he loses his count, everything he does must have an even number to it (chews his food 4 or 6 times before swallowing, never 5). In the rebel camp where he lives, all of the plans must have an even number of steps, and the people making those plans get frustrated that they have to make up an extra step at times just to satisfy their figurehead.
The poet is a woman who speaks in rhymes whenever she can. This appeals to the football figurehead as it is a very even speech pattern. She is completely self-less and is incapable of telling a lie. Brilliant, she sees patterns in things and events and will often reveal the future, but because she speaks in rhymes and metaphors this is often lost to those listening.
The traveler is the story, as it begins with him and ends with him. He is a roaming samurai (because I've always wanted to do a samurai story) who is an expert in warfare who has no master because he seeks the truth about conflict and the source of human desire to wage war. He fights only worthy causes in conflict. He's been roaming for two years now, and heard of the rebellion from the poet in a seedy bar – he saved her life, they had a one night stand, and then he searched her out for six months when she left. The “2 years” appeals to the footballer, but it is the beautiful truth spoken by the poet that captured the warrior's heart.
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Wow, this is incredibly detailed. I'll admit, I would be tempted to ditch the story prompt at the sight of "football player" ('cos I really hate sports. Really.) But you've taken the "nervous habit" thing and totally run with it.
I'll bet you would really have a blast writing your poet, because she'd come with so much voice. She could be somber, or playful, or precognitive, all with her poetic styling. I'm not saying she'd be easy--in fact, I think she'd be hard to do well. But she'd be so worth it that I'll bet readers would be itching for her to make her appearance.
I haven't played on Seventh Sanctum in a long time. I'm developing a new story world and I need to write some practice scenes so I can see who my characters are. Maybe a little randomness is just the ticket for me to use in my sketches.
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