Where do Writers Get Their Ideas: Story Dice

I love finding new ideas and developing them into a story. A lot of the time, the tales go nowhere. Will they stand up to become a full-fledged narrative? Probably not. But sometimes, those little ideas make an existing idea stronger and better. Sometimes, those little ideas take on a life of their own and won’t leave me alone until they are stories of their own.

My current favourite way to get ideas is story dice. Seriously, these things are magic. I don’t even know what the rules are for the proper storytelling game you’re supposed to play with them–but that doesn’t matter. They are story dice. So you make stories!

Unlike most writing prompts, you aren’t limited to the words provided, or a question, or a first line. Story dice give you little images. The onus is on you to try and find a way to string them together.

The thing I love about story dice is that they are genre-writing compatible. Do you write pirate stories? No problem. Fantastic adventures? Romance? Science fiction? Just go with it!

So I want to show you my favourite story dice which will hopefully get some ideas rolling (hah! See what I did there?) for you as well.

Where to start with story dice?

[image error][image error]These story dice are great starters. They provide a basic framework for the add-on dice you can get that help genre-skew the prompts (Amazon.com/Amazon.ca).

Out of these three sets, if you’re only going to get one, I recommend Voyages (Amazon.com/Amazon.ca). I found that one to be the most story-creation compatible out of the three.

Skew the stories to your genre with expansion packs

After getting a basic pack, there are genre-specific add-ons that really help me click my ideas from generating in a contemporary sphere to a more fantastic, or creepy, sphere. Most of the below are 3-dice packs that can easily fit into a container with the main story packs above.

Fantasy-themed story dice:

Magic & Fairy Tale Set

[image error][image error](Amazon.com/Amazon.ca)

Story Cubes – Enchanted Expansion Pack

[image error](Amazon.com/Amazon.ca)