Creative Writing

If you’re a member of a creative writing group or forum, you might find that there are times when the discussions become bland and stale. You can get the creative juices flowing again by starting a few creative writing games for the group to play.

1.) Never-Ending Story–Start a thread or discussion where each person has to add to a story. You can do this by having each post be only a few words, or a complete sentence. Each person can add their own take on the story, as long as it compliments the phrase or sentence before theirs. This can get really strange before it’s finished.

2.) Create A Character–This is a fun game, as each member creates a character based on a few details you give. For instance, your post would start out like: “Tell me about Fred Jones, from Texas”. Each member would then write out a description and bio on Fred Jones of Texas.

3.) Poetically Linked–This is an easy game to play. You start out by creating a poetic verse, then each member of the group or forum adds a line or verse to the poem. You might decide up front as to whether or not you want the poem to be in rhyme, or free verse, but you don’t have to. It can be very interesting to let your members decide for themselves.

4.) First Line/Last Line–Simply put, you create a sentence that is either to be used as a first line, or the last line in your members work. It’s totally up to you, but make sure to let them know where it’s supposed to be placed. You will be amazed at how many stories can come from the same first or last line.

5.) Time and Place–Just like it says, you tell your members the time and place of the story. But let them create everything else in between. Time and place can be a year and a city, or a time of day and a specific location. For example: Time–1947, Place–Chicago. Or: Time–3:15am, Place–A parking garage.

6.) Role Playing Games–Now, I’ve only done this game a couple of times, but I had a blast. With a role-playing game, you get to create the scene, the characters, and the plot. However, your members get to bring life to the characters you’ve chosen for them. This is a great way to get everyone to thinking.

7.) Scene Stealers–Challenge your members to create a short story by giving them the scene. For instance, you might start out with “A dark room in an old hotel near the ocean”. From there, your members can create the rest of the story.

8.) Props–This is really simple. You give your members 3 or 4 prop ideas for their story. An example might be, “a pencil, a roll of duct tape, a rolling pin, and a bottle of lotion”. Let your members do all the creating in this process. You’ll be amazed at what will come out of it.

9.) The Title Is–All there is to this one, is you giving your members a title to their work. Give them the option to create a work of fiction or non-fiction. Of course, it will all depend on the title, but for the most part your members should be able to go in a hundred different directions.

10.) The Name Game–No, not like the old 60’s song. This is like a round-robin type thread or discussion. You start out by creating a name and a little something about that person, then an introduction to the next person. Here’s an example: “April Davenport is a 24 yr. old college student from New Hampshire. She has a brother named…”. Then, the next person would write a little something about the brother, then introduce another character. This can go on forever.

Try a few of these the next time your creative writing group or forum is getting a little boring. It will help everyone involved come up with new ideas for their writings.