Story Sparks Fest (January)

[silvercat17]

The Story Sparks fest will run January 1st to 31st and is open to all fandoms and original work. All sizes and media welcome.

Story Sparks is a list of prompts to inspire ideas. I created the list as cards and have each one written on a card to shuffle and pull from. At the very bottom of this entry is the full list with some interpretations for each prompt.

For the purpose of this bingo, I've prepared a few public cards and a list formatted for the Bingo generator. But feel free to use it for your own purposes. I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

How can you use the Story Sparks prompts?
- As inspiration for the theme of your next story. Just pull a card or couple of cards for ideas.
- To recover from writer's block. Can't decide what goes next? Pull a couple of cards and use them to get writing again.
- To create the skeleton of a plot. Deal between five and ten cards, or as many cards you need, to create the storyline from.
- As a writing exercise. Pull a card and write a paragraph or short story with it as inspiration.
- As a way to decide between possibilites. Select appropriate cards and pull one from a hat.
- Any way you want!



Bingo list (all):
<br />Addiction, Adversary, Age, Ally / Companion, Attack / Defense, Body, Chance, Cold, Creature, Darkness / Light, Death, Disaster, Discovery, Dream, Earth, Electricity, Escape, Family, Fate / Future, Fire, God, Government, Growth, Heaven / Paradise, Hell, Honor / Morality, Illusion, Innocence, Justice, Key, Loss, Love, Magic, Medicine / Drugs, Mercy, Mind, Misunderstanding, Monster, Obsession, Path / Travel, Punishment, Reconciliation / Redemption, Rescue / Recovery, Resources / Money, School / Education, Science, Sex, Sky, Soul / Spirit, Space, Superstition / Custom, Time, Tool / Technology, Reversal, Transformation / Revelation, Wall / Tower, Water, Weakness / Illness, Weapon, Wood<br />

Bingo list (essentials):
<br />Adversary, Ally / Companion, Attack / Defense, Body, Chance, Disaster, Discovery, Escape, Fate, Growth, Key, Loss, Mind, Misunderstanding, Path / Travel, Reconciliation / Redemption, Rescue / Recovery, Creature, Dream, Honor / Morality, Reversal, Space, Time, Tool / Technology, Transformation / Revelation, Wall / Tower, Weakness / Illness, Darkness / Light, Innocence, Justice, Monster, Soul / Spirit<br />

Public Cards:

Water	Time	Honor / Morality
Weakness / Illness	FREE SPACE	Path / Travel
Death	Age	Weapon

Ally / Companion	Space	Reconciliation / Redemption	Sex
Electricity	Justice	Government	Age
Addiction	Honor / Morality	Fate / Future	Love
Rescue / Recovery	School / Education	Growth	Key

Chance	Mind	Sky	Fire	Darkness / Light
Body	Honor / Morality	Wall / Tower	Science	Resources / Money
Space	Escape	FREE SPACE	Punishment	Weapon
Cold	Wood	Loss	Path / Travel	Hell
Addiction	Death	Fate / Future	Magic	School / Education

Each prompt is a word or couple of related words. They're designed to be used as literally or metaphorically as you see fit. The list below is all the prompts with some of the possible interpretations. Some of the words overlap. The prompts with a star next to them are useful enough to have two or more cards if you're using it as a deck.

1. Addiction: whether to be lived with, defeated, or struggled with; metaphorical, physical, mental
2. * Adversary: a temporary enemy, a rival, the antagonist, recurring enemy; a setback or obstacle to be overcome - bad weather, crime, a time restraint...
3. Age: mental age, stage of life, geological age, rapid aging, age differences, antique, new
4. * Ally / Companion: a true friend, a traveling mate, a classmate, advice, a pet, spouse, fair weather friend, or false friend...
5. * Attack / Defense: mental defenses, strategy, a random encounter, crime, threats, abuse; from the enemy or hero
6. * Body: fatigue, strength, physical effort, corpse, student body, injury, disability, physical skills or attacks
7. * Chance: an opportunity, luck, a game, random chance for good or ill
8. Cold: ice, snow, subzero, the illness, winter, cold of space, relief from heat
9. Creature: animal, non-human, robot, pet, mascot, pest, alien, monster
10. Darkness / Light: evil, night, darkness, murkiness of thought or strategy, good, revelation, daylight, artificial light, elemental users, space, stars
11. Death: for who, how, what purpose, how many? Actual, faked, not quite, or metaphorical?
12. * Disaster: apocalypse, natural disasters, major setbacks,
13. * Discovery: reason for story, new tools, abilities, information, invention, thing or place found
14. Dream: daydream, nightmare, something to work toward, unreachable, desire, covet
15. Earth: the planet, any planet, the element, strength, dirt, mountains, cave, earthquake, stability, clay, pottery
16. Electricity: makes things work, lightning, power, relationship sparks, a bright idea, electronics
17. * Escape: running away or getting away; temporary or true; a plan or goal to; mental escape, escapism,
18. Family: supportive, dysfunctional, abusive, adopted, metaphorical, found, as close as, biological, extended or nuclear, marriage, birth
19. * Fate / Future: destiny, doom, future events, predictions, prophecy; inevitable, to be fought, to be accepted; is it binding or inconsequential?
20. Fire: wild fire, camp fire, house fire, arson, firing squad, warmth, anger, passion, romance
21. God: true, false, one, many, ultimate power, miracles, avatars, incarnations, angels
22. Government: red tape, bureacracy, power, methods, help, government agents, spies, police, secret agents, loopholes, paperwork
23. * Growth: additional problems, additions to the group, building, new skills or tools, physical or mental growth, cancer, weeds
24. Heaven / Paradise: utopia, goal, comfort, rest, happiness, bliss, Eden, good, god, Olympus, Asgard, Valhalla, angels, nirvana, afterlife, beautiful place, holiness, myth, ejected from
25. Hell: dystopia, suffering, torture, demons, devil, inferno, chaos, mischief, devilment, sin, exaggeration, hyperbole
26. Honor / Morality: obligations, code of conduct, dishonor, ethics, differing morals, connections with people
27. Illusion: fraud, disguise, trick, legerdemain, lie, false friend, magic, gimmick, hack
28. Innocence: civilians, lack of knowledge, elders, children, lack of experience, naivete, or lack of innocence
29. Justice: karma, true justice, goal, ideal, court room, detention, police
30. * Key: a solution or physical key, a key piece of the puzzle, a clue, final element, something important
31. * Loss: life, of limbs, resources, allies, freedom, money, love; defeat
32. Love: friendship, platonic, sex, family, a crush, lust, conquers all, Valentine's day, femme fatale
33. Magic: miracle, true magic or sleight of hand, trickery, occultism, witchcraft, wizardry, deus ex machina, as good as, sudden help
34. Medicine / Drugs: hospital, doctors, nurse, care, illness, injury, surgery, comfort, vetinarian, illegal drugs, drug trade
35. Mercy: relief, comfort, mercy killing, begging for
36. * Mind: a decision, telepathy, thinking through ideas, brainstorming, intelligence, thought, strategy, ignorance, out-thinking, mental blinders, mental illness, will, tactics
37. * Misunderstanding: of the hero, by the hero, a delay or major incident
38. Monster: a horrible person or beast, misunderstand creature, bigotry
39. Obsession: feud, hate, letting go, renewing, forgiving, compulsion
40. * Path / Travel: moving from one place to another, voluntary or non-? plan, route, map
41. Punishment: abuse, justice done, unfair, prison, jail, karma, time out
42. Reconciliation / Redemption: between friends or family, a recovery of esteem, the redemption of a character, an event turing from bad to good
43. * Rescue / Recovery: comfort, help, assistence, rest, from illness or injury; a recovered skill, item, or memory; savior
44. Resources / Money: money, food, fuel; lack of or in excess; to be bought, bartered, sold, stolen; natural resources, banks, national economies
45. Reversal: traitor, double agent, change of weather, change of plan, change of direction, setback, revision, duplication, redo
46. School / Education: college, grade school, school of hard knocks, technical skill, apprenticeship, self-improvement, trade school, learning a new skill, insight, or background information
47. Science: at any level, mad science, an advancement of technology or skills, alchemy, good or bad, weapons, vehicles, computers, technobabble, chemistry, physics, biology
48. Sex: gender or horizontal intrigue; as a tool, a way to pass time, a way to build relationship; porn, to further plot
49. Sky: flight, wind, weather, heavens, flight, space, air, mental fog, airhead, lack of air, head in the clouds, asthma...
50. Soul / Spirit: death, ghosts, switched identities, soul mates, something to sell or buy, a change of heart, renewed strength or ideals, fighting spirit, school spirit, alcohol, supernatural
51. Space: emptiness, vacuum, void, room, open space, space travel, lack, gap, private area, enclosed area
52. Superstition / Custom: silly custom or life-saving? Or a customization of items or skills or...? as an obstacle, religion, ritual, holidays
53. * Time: lack of, deadline, time travel, abundance of, planning, schedule, waiting, meeting, timing
54. * Tool / Technology: a handyman, technology at any level, weapons, vehicles, experts, skills, useful people, creating or forging, invention
55. * Transformation / Revelation: the denouement, revealing events, mysteries, or identities; removing of disguise; a mental, physical, metaphorical, or sociological change
56. * Wall / Tower: an obstacle or refuge, castle, town, home, siege, stubborness, prison, defenses, dead-end, mental defenses, refusal, something to climb, something to overcome
57. Water: rivers, oceans, floods, rain, something to drink, abundance or over-abundance, a symbol of change, defense, flow
58. * Weakness / Illness: injury, fatigue, disability, stress, sickness, surgery, wounds, mentall illness; a lock of skills, strength, resources, or allies; chemical imbalance, failure, angst, drugs
59. Weapon: lethal or non, metaphorical
60. Wood: plants, trees, forests, knock on, furniture, environment, wilderness, unexplored territory, building out of, fence

Comments

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

These look cool. I made a card:
https://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/13231524.html

[siberian_skys]

I made a 3x3 bingo card for your fest from the essentials list.

Darkness / Light	Space	Dream
Ally / Companion	Time	Path / Travel
Innocence	Transformation / Revelation	Wall / Tower

Go you!

[ysabetwordsmith]

That looks like fun.

Re: Go you!

[siberian_skys]

I'm hoping. I already have some ideas. :-)

Re: Go you!

[silvercat17]

I'm excited to see them!

Re: Go you!

[siberian_skys]

I should get started working on that bingo card, though that isn't going to get the house done. Always too much to do and too little time. I think I'm still going to find time to write today. Write for an hour clean for an hour and then start over.

[curiosity]

I made a card.

[nsfwords]

Late start, but I've made a card! Looking forward to more drabbles in 2022. :)

[cmk418]

First time delving into this community. I made a card!

Sky	Discovery	Innocence	Body	Reversal
Mind	Obsession	God	Justice	Punishment
Weapon	Magic	Illusion	Adversary	Fate / Future
Soul / Spirit	Monster	Escape	Time	Growth
Dream	Mercy	Cold	Superstition / Custom	Key

Welcome!

[ysabetwordsmith]

That looks like a fun card.

I made bingo on mine yesterday during the Poetry Fishbowl. \o/

Re: Welcome!

[cmk418]

Thanks! And good for you.

[silvercat17]

Glad you can join us and I hope you have a fun time with this!

[melime]

First time participating in this community! I know I'm very late in the game, but I wanted to write some short things to decompress and this seems like great inspiration. I made a card:

Reversal	Time	Electricity	Ally / Companion	Weapon
Cold	Chance	Adversary	Dream	Sky
Honor / Morality	Love	FREE SPACE	Escape	Mind
Resources / Money	Heaven / Paradise	Hell	Illusion	Key
Darkness / Light	Family	Water	God	Tool / Technology

[silvercat17]

Enjoy!