A detailed story prompt generator.
Intended for writing short stories, as a fun writing practice.
Overcome writer's block by having the machine randomly generate all the basic elements needed for a good story (e.g. plot, characters, scenes). You can then focus on writing this story, without getting stuck at the "I-don't-know-what-to-write-about" stage. Then when your story then goes horribly wrong you can blame the computer.
Requires python 3.6 to run.
This is not a stand alone application.
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Open writershammer_main in the Python 3.6 IDLE.
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Run the module
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Input the key indicated for the generator you want to use. Do it as many times as you like to get an output you like.
(You can also run it via command line. e.g. C:\Users\MyName>python c:/BlaBlaBla/writershammer/writershammer_main.py)
- Story, Genre, & Style: basic parts of a story. e.g. theme, pov, style.
- Setting: Where the story or a scene takes place.
- Character: goals and personality for a person.
- Scene: the actions that happen in a single scene.
- Solarpunk elements: a genre specific generator for Solarpunk.
- Famous phrases: start and end lines you can adapt, to help remind you what good writing looks like.
- A full story will need: "Story, Genre, & Style" + at least one "Setting" + at least one "Character" + at least one "Scene".
- The output is complicated. Spend some time deciding what the output means before jumping into your story.
- The generators come up with more than you need. Don't worry about trying to fit everything in. Just have fun.
- Let yourself be challenged. Random output will stretch you to try new things. Go with it!
- You final story probably wont resemble the random output much. That's okay. Output is there to inspire, not constrain.
I made this as a fun little tool for my own use. I have no plans to develop this into anything more sophisticated. It's a bit rough and incomplete, but it works.
Writer's Hammer is a very simple script. Anyone with amateur coding skills will be able to customize and expand this to their liking. Go for it!
If you make substantial improvements to this code please share the love and make it publicly available.
writershammer_main.py: this is the main code that runs everything else.
[NAME]gen.py: these are the random generators. They mostly select random output from lists and return it in a readable form. Creating new generators is easy.
[NAME]gen_lists.py: these are the lists of possible output. Edit these lists if you want more possibilities.
By Dokimi, GPLv3
STORY, GENRE, & STYLE: This story is about vengenance The themes are Good vs Evil and Self-awareness It is a Character focused story The actions take place over a very long time The plot arc is Cinderella (rise-fall-rise) This is a Historical Humor story Told in a distracted style POV: 1st person Tense: present tense
SETTING: The mood of the place is accepting Living here is great The climate is warm temperate The landscape is dominated by a glacier The population is a large town The people here are living in luxury The economy is dominated by services Unique feature: cave paintings
CHARACTER: Their internal aim is to learn to accept things as they are Their external aim is to make a contribution to society They highly value Care Their worst vice is Boastfulness Their best virtue is Kindness Age: 38 Gender: male Ethnicity: Mixed Role: journalist Openness : Slightly high Conscientiousness : Very high Extraversion : Moderately low Agreeableness : Extremely high Neuroticism : Moderately high A noticeable feature of their health: Frighteningly good-looking Quirk 1: A fetish Quirk 2: An extreme daily routine
SOLARPUNK ELEMENTS: Solar: Sustainable technology Punk: Against oppression Positive mood: Excitement Aesthetic: Creative re-use/Jugaad innovation A concept or trope to play with: A really big tree
SCENE: The scene is about underachieving The pace is slow The protagonist is torn between improvising and improvising They choose improvising which is a fail and leads to learning the prize is a curse The antagonist is torn between going rouge and returning to the past They choose returning to the past which is a win and leads to waking the monsters Scene Conditions: Time: evening Conditions are pleasant Temperature: cold Humidity: wet Noise: quiet Smell: odorous Light: dark Space: cramped Color: purple Quirk: esoteric symbols written on the ground
PHRASES: Adapt this as an OPENING line: Where’s Papa going with that axe?’ said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast. Adapt this as an ENDING line: There is ebb and flow. Leaving and coming. Flight and fall. Sing and silent. Reaching and reached.