#Writing Wednesday: story dice

While I was in Wales at the end of February, my brother, Carl, introduced me to a fun - yet also useful - app for the iPhone. Which, by the way, is also available for other tablets and similar devices.

Anyway, the app wasstory dice, and I mention it in a writing post because... As it says on the app store...

Story Dice is a creative writing prompt tool to come up with ideas for plot, character, and setting. It can be used for both written and oral storytelling.

It's worth noting that, though the "dice" show up as pictograms, it works so well with Apple's voiceover software that the app is still accessable to the blind without any assistance being required from a sighted person, making this a great tool for those who can't read well (such as young children) or those who rely on screen reader technology to read what's on the screen for them (such as the visually impaired) as well.

Most importantly though, this is a potentially fun way of helping someone struggling with writers' block to get their creative juices flowing.

Carl and I used it to entertain each other by making up flash fiction on the spot, when we had an hour spare to mess around on the Sunday evening. Most of our stories weren't that great, but it was good fun.

I did make a note of one of mine though, because I was quite pleased with it - and Carl seemed to like it too - so I plan to expand on it in the future, as well as take the time to iron out the rough edges, if you know what I mean. I'm not sure if Carl plans to work with any of his in the future... I didn't ask, to be honest.

Are you thinking this isn't for you because you don't write flash fiction? Think again! For one thing, the app doesn't have to be used for flash fiction. For another thing, there are 5 smart reasons to write flash fiction, even if it's only from time to time.

Anyway...

I happen to think it's a fun and useful app, and Carl obviously thinks so too, since he recommended it to me. We also both grabbed the spooky story dice version, since it contains some "dice" that the other version doesn't.

Oh, and... If you're wondering... No. I did not get asked by anyone to tell you how totally awesome I think the app is, and I'm not being paid for it either (which is a real shame, but there you go). I'm writing this post because I want to, and telling you about how awesome the app is because it's how I feel, and I want you to know about it... Especially those of you reading this who are writers too.