Sunday, July 4, 2010

Creativity Exercise -- You'll Love This!

I posted this creativity exercise on Facebook this morning, but wanted to expand on the idea a little here. And I'd like for people to post their resulting stories here, as well. It could get interesting!

So here's the idea. You know those little verification words you get asked to type in when you post a link on something like Facebook, or when you're signing up for something online? Start keeping a list of them. When you have quite a few built up, start writing a story that incorporates all those words. Here are the criteria:
  • The words have to be used in the order in which they appear on your list.
  • You must include all the words you get as verification words; I usually just keep a Word document minimized on my desktop and pull it up when I have words to add to my list.
  • A capitalized word, other than a proper noun, constitutes the beginning of a sentence. Until you get a capitalized word, you need to keep including words on your list in the same sentence.
  • Punctuate the sentences however you wish, and add words in between as needed so that your story makes some sort of sense.
  • Make all the words from your list bold in the story, so people will know what you've used.
  • If you want to make a game out of it, say that the person with the least amount of words added to those on their list wins. That'll really push the creativity up another notch.
That's pretty much it! Post your stories here when you're done with them, and we'll start a community of people playing this game. Anybody got an idea for the name of such a game?

I've been keeping a list for a little while now, and the combination of words at the end of it right now is this: "when limply explaining war mullets." Doesn't that sound like a delightful concept to include in a story? Enjoy!