Hey, young writers! Just wanted to share a little bit of what I’ve been doing with my story cubes. I usually start by opening up a Word Document and writing down what I rolled at the top so I can look back on it and remember what inspired my scene. Then, I set my timer on my phone to 25 minutes and start writing. I’ve included a pic of what my header looks like and a little piece of a scene that I wrote using my cubes. 🙂

Three quick things: 1) I only used 3 categories/cubes for this scene, this isn’t ALL of the scene (or the final version 😛 ), and the colors at the top correspond to the category rolled (voyage dice are green, action dice are blue, and enchanted dice come in pink). I’ve also included a picture of what I rolled below…

In one of my previous writing updates, I promised to write about the ABSOLUTELY AMAZING creative writing tools I’ve found and how they inspire me to write. That was in June. It’s now the end of July. Oops! 😛 With that being said, let me introduce you to some new and very inspirational friends. They are called story cubes. Now, there are many, many, many different brands of story cubes and different packs containing specific story categories within those packs within each of the brands. Taking into account how long you actually want to spend reading this article and the time I actually want to spend time typing it/how badly I want to keep all sense of feeling in my fingertips, I’ve decided to only talk about my top 3 favorite brands of story cubes.

#1: Rory’s Story Cubes by Gamewright

Okay, these boys are my homies. But seriously, I love these story cubes. They have adorable, thought-provoking pictures on each of their 6-sides and while you can clearly understand some of the images on the die, others are less obvious and therefore, completely open to your creative interpretation, depending on what story you are using the cube(s) for. What’s even cooler is that the creators at Gamewright purposely refrained from posting specific meanings for their die on their website (I know, I checked) in order to allow people to better use their imaginations. How cool is that? This particular brand has 3 packs of 9 dice each (categories include: original, actions, and voyages) and about 9 packs of 3 dice each (categories are: enchanted, clues, prehistoric, medic, score, intergalactic, mythic, animalia, and fright). Each box contains instructions on how to actually use the dice, but I personally like to pick a dice from each category (I have 6 categories so far), then roll them and see what I get. As I look at the images, I try to think how they could apply to my story or help my story along if I’m stuck in a certain spot. I’m always amazed at how a seemingly random group of pictures can sometimes inspire a full-fledged scene in my head and if it doesn’t, well hey, at least I can enjoy laughing over the crazy mix-up I got. 😛

#2 Story Time Dice by Imagination Generation

These dice are pretty cool in their own right. There are 3 packs of 7 dice each in 3 different versions: original Story Time, Fairy Tales, and Scary Tales. Not only that, but these dice come in different shapes, with a different amount of sides for every one. And each dice is filled with images that pertain to a specific story element. For example, one dice is just for the setting aspect of the story, another is for tools, another for characters, another for challenges, etc. What’s more, the packages each come with their own picture guide to explain the images on the cubes. It does take out the element of using your imagination to bend the pictures to whatever you think they look like, but I think it’s nice to be able to see what the images actually are in case you really have no clue. 😉 In addition to the guide, there are suggestions for games to play but again, I just roll each die and go from there. I only have the original set, but I’m hoping to get the fairy tale pack soon!

#3 Magic & Fairy Tale Dice by Norman and Jules

This brand also comes in Pirate Adventure and Space Travel packs. These are wooden dice that have very beautiful, slightly more detailed pictures on them compared to that of Gamewright’s Story Cubes. This game actually has a special red die, and when rolling all the other cubes, if you happen to roll a red swirl on one of them, you get to roll the special red die and add that image to your story mixture. I really like the vintage look of these cubes and the idea of the special die. It’s fun looking at all your “normal” cubes and being like, “Alright, I think I know what scene I’m going to write using what I got.” but then you realize you also rolled a red swirl and therefore have to roll the red cube. THEN, you get a really random picture that completely messes with your original scene idea and you’re like, “#PLOTTWIST!”. (That might just be me…)

Whichever brand, pack, or number of cubes you like, I highly suggest that you get them! (If you go to our Amazon Store, you can even buy some of the story cubes I’ve talked about on here.)

Using story cubes is a fun way to get yourself to write without the hassle of having to come up with your own topic and individual story elements. Try it, on your own or with a friend. Either way, you’ll laugh so much, you might just die. #punsarelife

Hello, young writers! So, the last time I posted an article, it was about a book I had read that had been written in 3rd person omniscient. (If you need a refresher on what exactly I said or what book I talked about *cough cough* it was The Princess check out this link.) Anyway, as I was saying, after talking endlessly about the advantages of writing a story in 3rd PO and encouraging you all to try to at least writing something in that POV, a thought occurred to me: I haven’t written anything in 3rd PO! 3rd Person Limited? All the time. 1st Person? It’s how I started writing. I’ve even occasionally written in 2nd Person, but NEVER 3rd PO. Then I thought, well, if I’m encouraging other writers to try this POV, shouldn’t I do the same? I can’t very well recommend something without having tried it. That’s why I’ve decided to post a little snip-it of a scene I wrote for my FF story. Now, when I originally wrote it, it was in 1st Person from one of my heroine’s POV. I’ve included that original perspective below along with the 3rd PO version so you can compare and contrast the differences between the different POVs (and also so I can say I actually tried 😛 ). When reading in different perspectives/POVs I always like to ask myself: which viewpoint makes me feel more connected to the characters? Which viewpoint gives me a clearer picture of what’s going on with each of the characters and the action within the story? Just food for thought. Hope you enjoy seeing the different perspectives!

Rowena’s POV:

“Well, it’s not really about what you want, is it?” he said quietly, although his voice was full of menace.

“Excuse me?”

“You may be okay with dying, but I’m not.”

“I know, that’s why I…”

“No, you don’t get it.” he said, his voice hard, his dark eyes even harder. A chill ran down my spine. “I’m not okay with you dying, so excuse me if I don’t sympathize with what you’re going through.”

That was a slap to the face.

“Demy, I’m sorry you feel that way, but there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

He snorted then glared at me.

“That’s the problem!” Demetry yelled across the courtyard, frustration and anger fueling his words. He threw up his hands and balls of fire shot out of them haphazardly. He’d scorched a nearby tree and set fire to a small shrub, but he didn’t care. His eyes shooting daggers, he slowly stalked toward me. I had to fight the urge to back up. I had never seen him so furious, and I’d known him before he’d “mellowed” out. “You didn’t give us a chance to do anything about it! You just decided on your own! How could you have been so selfish?”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I just stared up at him incredulously.

“How could I have been so selfish? Seriously? I did this to save all of you!”

“And did we ask you to throw your life away in the process? If you had just waited, we could have figured out another way!” he said, nostrils flaring as he loomed over me.

3rd Person Omniscient:

“Well, it’s not really about what you want, is it?” he said quietly, although his voice was full of menace. She’d had no idea what she’d done. What she was doing to him.

“Excuse me?” Rowena asked, completely lost as to why Demetry had suddenly become so cold. He just stood there, his gaze so intense she felt as though he was burning a whole through her.

“You may be okay with dying, but I’m not.”

“I know, that’s why I…”

“No, you don’t get it.” he said, his voice hard, his dark eyes even harder. A chill ran down Rowena’s spine. “I’m not okay with you dying, so excuse me if I don’t sympathize with what you’re going through.”

That was a slap to the face.

“Demy, I’m sorry you feel that way, but there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

Demetry snorted then glared at her. He couldn’t believe her. She was acting as if choosing to sacrifice herself without consulting anyone was nothing. It was not nothing.

“That’s the problem!” Demetry yelled across the courtyard, frustration and anger fueling his words. He threw up his hands and balls of fire shot out of them haphazardly. He’d scorched a nearby tree and set fire to a small shrub, but he didn’t care. His eyes shooting daggers, he slowly stalked toward Rowena. She had to fight the urge to back up. She had never seen him so furious, and she’d known him before he’d “mellowed” out. “You didn’t give us a chance to do anything about it! You just decided on your own! How could you have been so selfish?”

Ro couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She just stared up at him incredulously.

“How could I have been so selfish? Seriously? I did this to save all of you!”

“And did we ask you to throw your life away in the process? If you had just waited, we could have figured out another way!” he said, nostrils flaring as he loomed over her. How blind could he be? If Rowena had known how ungrateful he was going to be about her dying to save him and the rest of her family and friends, she might have reconsidered her choice.

A little reflection…

Writing in 3rd PO IS SO HARD!!! It’s a little overwhelming having to recount every character’s thoughts, feelings, motives, emotions, and actions. To make it easier on myself, I started thinking about writing in 3rd PO as if I’m combining the 3rd Person Limited viewpoints I usually write for each character into one scene. Basically, the scene I would have written following the one above would have talked about how Demetry is feeling about Rowena’s impending death. Instead of having to write that scene in addition to the one above (even though it’s originally in 1st Person), I now only have one scene that encompasses both characters’ viewpoints. Am I a 3rd PO convert? Hard to say, but hey, at least I tried. 😛 How about you?