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Brainstoryum: Short Stories and Writing Prompts

Brainstoryum: Short Stories and Writing Prompts
Author: Anna Tizard
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Brainstorm stories using the surrealist word game of Exquisite Corpse - a creative writing challenge you'll never forget! Hosted by award-winning dreampunk & fantasy author Anna Tizard.
The game produces strange, often hilarious sentences, but after a bit of head-scratching (and tea drinking!), they inspire weird & unexpected stories.
This show has evolved:
Shows 37 & later focus more on storytelling, and the story brainstorms are deeper & richer.
Shows 28-33 are Alice in Wonderland specials.
Earlier shows include profound discussions on writing before game play.
Dive in and don't look back!
The game produces strange, often hilarious sentences, but after a bit of head-scratching (and tea drinking!), they inspire weird & unexpected stories.
This show has evolved:
Shows 37 & later focus more on storytelling, and the story brainstorms are deeper & richer.
Shows 28-33 are Alice in Wonderland specials.
Earlier shows include profound discussions on writing before game play.
Dive in and don't look back!
85 Episodes
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The ultimate writing prompt challenge. Your weekend is not weird enough (or creative enough) without Brainstoryum!This is the third and final episode delving into tips and techniques on fight scene writing, with reference to Marie Brennan's outstanding book, Writing Fight Scenes.Join award-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in a journey into the writer’s imagination – at once profound, surprising, funny, and extraordinary. Anna usesthe surrealist word game of Exquisite Corpse to generate short story ideas by mixing listener’s word suggestions into weird sentences. The results are imagination-bending, and a real workout for your creative writing.Listen to brand new short stories and scenes as Anna drafts them (she uses the “pause” button to compose them) and learn from tips, techniques and tools she shares along theway: practical ideas that you can use to write suspenseful fiction, especially fantasy.Subscribe for free to Anna Tizard’s private email list and receive an e-book to begin your journey into The Book of Exquisite Corpse (includes exclusive material not published anywhere else). Go to annatizard.com.
Join award-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in a journey into the writer’s imagination – at once profound, surprising, funny, and extraordinary. Anna usesthe surrealist word game of Exquisite Corpse to generate short story ideas by mixing listener’s word suggestions into weird sentences. The results are imagination-bending, and a real workout for your creative writing.Listen to brand new short stories and scenes as Anna drafts them (she uses the “pause” button to compose them) and learn from tips, techniques and tools she shares along theway: practical ideas that you can use to write suspenseful fiction, especially fantasy.It’s the ultimate writing prompt challenge. Your weekend is not weird enough (or creative enough) without Brainstoryum!Subscribe for free to Anna Tizard’s private email list and receive an e-book to begin your journey into The Book of Exquisite Corpse (includes exclusive material not published anywhere else). Go to annatizard.com.Hello imaginative people. I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 82 of Brainstoryum.In the last show there were so many useful, incredibly practical pieces of advice offered by fellow writers who have more experience than I do in writing fight scenes: from testing out moves physically, considering the feasible skill levels of your characters (or their lack of skill) before diving in, using shorter sentences to create a sense of speed and pace, to ensuring that you hone in on the emotional and psychological experience of your protagonist as the fight unfolds. It’s a lot to think about, I find; a lot to take in. I’m wary of trying to take in too much at once, because these things take time and practice to really absorb, and it’s quite easy, I think, to intimidate ourselves out of a writing exercise by thinking too much about technique.Now, I want to continue with this deep-dive and learn more about how to write fight scenes, although I think it’s important to keep the balance between spending time thinking critically – consciously and conscientiously – about these things, and following the white rabbit of inspiration. Because there comes a moment when you pick up the pen, or touch your fingers to the keyboard, and to capture the wonder that we experience in reading great stories, as writers, certainly in the first draft, I think it’s worth giving in to the subconscious mind, and letting yourself be led down a pathway whose twists and turns you can’t yet see. So let’s turn our attention for a little while to technique, then it will be time to begin an unplanned, spontaneous adventure into the imagination, which I think is vital nourishment to our creativity.
Join award-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in a journey into the writer’s imagination – at once profound, surprising, funny, and extraordinary. Anna usesthe surrealist word game of Exquisite Corpse to generate short story ideas by mixing listener’s word suggestions into weird sentences. The results are imagination-bending, and a real workout for your creative writing.Today's episode showcases experienced authors' hot tips and hot takes on how to write fight scenes, followed by 3 new story brainstorms, and a brand new short story - which, naturally, includes a fight scene!Your weekend is not weird enough (or creative enough) without Brainstoryum!Subscribe for free to Anna Tizard’s private email list and receive an e-book to begin your journey into The Book of Exquisite Corpse (includes exclusive material notpublished anywhere else). Go to annatizard.com.
Joinaward-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in a journey into the writer’simagination – at once profound, surprising, funny, and extraordinary. Anna usesthe surrealist word game of Exquisite Corpse to generate short story ideas bymixing listener’s word suggestions into weird sentences. The results areimagination-bending, and a real workout for your creative writing.Listen to brandnew short stories and scenes as Anna drafts them (she uses the “pause” buttonto compose them) and learn from tips, techniques and tools she shares along theway: practical ideas that you can use to write suspenseful fiction, especiallyfantasy.It’s theultimate writing prompt challenge. Your weekend is not weird enough (orcreative enough) without Brainstoryum!Subscribe forfree to Anna Tizard’s private email list and receive an e-book to begin yourjourney into The Book of Exquisite Corpse (includes exclusive material notpublished anywhere else). Go to annatizard.com.INTRO: Hello imaginative people! I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 80 of Brainstoryum.As I mentioned last time, today I’m going to talk a bit about a series I absolutely love that has monstrous themes at its heart: Ransom Riggs’ Peculiar Children series, which begins with Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. They made that one into a movie; didn’t like it, haven’t watched it since, but my goodness, I don’t know how many times I have read the book – or the whole series, because I just love it. As an author, I have to ask, why? What is it that I love so much? And can I pin-point these story elements, themes or types of things going on, to transform them into something that’s uniquely my own, in my writing? This is a great exercise for any writer for honing in on the real stuff that excites you. The better you know yourself as a reader, and why you enjoy what you enjoy, the more you can tap into the same kind of magic in your writing. And that sort of excitement is infectious: if you’re excited about what you’re writing, this will come across in the style – let alone your fundamental choices about what you write about.Now, while the Peculiar Children series is mainly built around monsters, the threat of these monsters who have tentacles coming out of their mouths and basically eat your soul (pretty way out there stuff), Riggs casts the philosophical net a bit wider. The peculiar children who have various oddities and strange powers are effectively outcasts from ordinary life, and are wrongly considered a threat to others. They have to live apart from the real world, in time loops. So there’s this lingering question of “What is a monster? Are some people labelled monsters unfairly?” And the protagonist, whose life is painfully banal, or so he feels, gets to experience this incredible acceptance and belonging in the peculiar group when he finally meets them, who become less peculiar to him once there’s acceptance and understanding on both sides. A thought-provoking element of the story; I appreciate a bit of chin-stroking, when it’s cleverly incorporated into the story itself and the protagonist’s emotional experience.But grey areas aside, the real, undeniable monsters inthe story...
Join award-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in a journey into the writer’s imagination – at once profound, surprising, funny, and extraordinary. Anna uses the surrealist word game of Exquisite Corpse to generate short story ideas by mixing listener’s word suggestions into weird sentences. The results are imagination-bending, and a real workout for your creative writing.Listen to brand new short stories and scenes as Anna drafts them (she uses the “pause” button to compose them) and learn from tips, techniques and tools she shares along the way: practical ideas that you can use to write suspenseful fiction, especially fantasy.It’s the ultimate writing prompt challenge. Your weekend is not weird enough (or creative enough) without Brainstoryum!Subscribe for free to Anna Tizard’s private email list and receive an e-book to begin your journey into The Book of Exquisite Corpse (includes exclusive material not published anywhere else). Go to annatizard.com.INTRO: Hello imaginative people! I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 79 of Brainstoryum. I hope you’ve had an excellent Easter by the time you listen to this: I recorded this just before Easter, which, let’s face it, is a difficult time for chocoholics. Every time I’ve been into our local supermarket in the last two months just to buy ordinary groceries, I have been faced with walls of tantalising boxes containing that unspeakably amazing stuff wrapped in glistening purple foil. I usually take my husband with me, not just to do the heavy carrying, but to help me through this… difficult time!And when the egg I really wanted was selling out, so I couldn’t leave buying it to the absolute last minute – I really like chocolate buttons – I bought it the weekend before Easter, asked Duncan to hide it… but he wasn’t quick enough, so I caved and I ate the buttons that came with the egg. It was only a small packet. And the way I see it, it’s the egg part that’s for Easter, right? So that’s okay, isn’t it?But I digress! Moving swiftly on, I have to tell you about some changes I’m making to the show. Nothing massive, but I would love your feedback anyway. Now, over time, I’ve got into the habit of feeling compelled to draft a short story or scene based on pretty much every single Exquisite Corpse result that comes up. This is quite an intense challenge – I think I’ve just been like, “I’ve got to prove that it can be done! Even with the really crazy ones.” And if you’re a regular listener, you’ll know I love surprises in fiction. I love to be surprised, and I love to write in surprises to my stories. And this is a great way to find those surprises – to go looking under every rock. So that might be why I got a little bit obsessive over this, trying to write every story– and it's also why the show’s become just that little bit longer than I’d like, and I haven’t been able to bring it down closer to half an hour.And while this has been going on...
Join award-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in a journey into the writer’s imagination – at once profound, surprising, funny, and extraordinary. Anna uses the surrealist word game of Exquisite Corpse to generate short story ideas by mixing listener’s word suggestions into weird sentences. The results are imagination-bending, and a real workout for your creative writing.Listen to brand new short stories and scenes as Anna drafts them (she uses the “pause” button to compose them) and learn from tips, techniques and tools she shares along the way: practical ideas that you can use to write suspenseful fiction, especially fantasy.It’s the ultimate writing prompt challenge. Your weekend is not weird enough (or creative enough) without Brainstoryum!Subscribe for free to Anna Tizard’s private email list and receive an e-book to begin your journey into The Book of Exquisite Corpse (includes exclusive material not published anywhere else). Go to annatizard.com.INTRO:Hello imaginative people! I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 78 of Brainstoryum. It’s finally a really gorgeous summery day in the UK. I hope you’re getting a bit of sunshine wherever you are, if that’s feasible, but if not, don’t worry because the same sun is shining down on us from whatever part of the world you’re in. It might be just be covered by clouds for now, but it’s still there, the way that ideas can sometimes hide behind other thoughts, or other necessities of your day. They’re still there. That creative potential awaits just beyond the reach of your senses; or, it might be time for that inspiration to shine is here.I thought I’d share some writing news with you this time, because I almost never do that (why do I never do that?), but instead of saying, “Here’s some writing news”, I want to say, “And now for some dragon-related news” (because how often in life do you get to say that sentence?): I’ve been drafting a short story based on an Exquisite Corpse from the last show and which I nearly – well, not nearly… I felt like dismantling the words and putting them back into the socks of destiny, I was so stumped when the sentence was first formed. Sacrilege! (I hear you cry.)But I never actually do that, because each time I even think about doing it, I know how haunted I would be by those unexplored possibilities… (What if it turned out to be the most amazing story in the history of stories?) And then, even if it might not turn out to be the best story in the world –the power of randomness steps in, or the power of imagination, or something – something magical – “proves” to me that putting the words back into the socks would have been a big mistake.The Exquisite Corpse in question was “The duplicate pet dragon struck a bargain with the porcelain dinosaur” which, being kind of inexplicable (it still hurts my brain just to re-read that sentence – hence my original temptation to just give up), but after enough pondering, it turned into: “The owner of the duplicate pet dragon store struck a bargain with the porcelain dinosaur” (which I took to mean another breed of the same general species of dragon, with pale skin). And so, after a bit of scene drafting which I shared in the episode (number 77, if you haven’t heard it), I rolled up my sleeves and got writing, because the idea began to expand. Set in a world only slightly different to ours, Tam, a long-time owner of a pet store which sells genetically modified dragons, perfectly legally and above board (they’re all the rage these days), meets the mysterious Bill, who likes to keep to the shadows; likes to keep the lighting low in his shop – which is really Tam’s shop; it’s a “duplicate”, or a second shop in the beginning of a chain for her. A new business venture. But Bill reveals himself to be part-dragon; the result of some terrible, cruel experimentation; and his sister, who is a full-blown dragon, except for her flightless wings, is still trapped in the lab where they were both made...
Join award-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in a journey into the writer’s imagination – at once, profound and hilarious, existential and quite silly. Annauses the surrealist word game of Exquisite Corpse to generate short story ideas by mixing listener’s word suggestions into weird sentences. The results are imagination-bending, and a real workout for your creative writing.Listen to brand new short stories and scenes as Anna drafts them (she uses the “pause” button to compose them) and learn from tips, techniques and tools she shares along the way: practical ideas that you can use to write suspenseful fiction, especially fantasy.It’s the ultimate writing prompt challenge. Your weekend is not weird enough (or creative enough) without Brainstoryum!Subscribe for free to Anna Tizard’s private email list and receive an e-book to begin your journey into The Book of Exquisite Corpse (includes exclusive material notpublished anywhere else). Go to annatizard.com. INTRO: Hello imaginative people! I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 77 of Brainstoryum. When I look backover the some of these more recent shows where I’ve been exploring my new theme of weird creatures, I recognise an underlying theme cropping up, as it’s come up in my writing before, just in different form: loss of control. I’ve often thought that the hardest stresses to bear in life are usually the ones that seem to render you helpless. Whether that’s illness, bereavement, or other practical limitations which a life situation presents you with, like not being able to earn enough: these make us feel out of control. And we might wonder then, if we ever had any control, if the feeling of control we usually think we haveis just an illusion. (Please get help, by the way, if you’re suffering from any of these things – don’t suffer alone.) Writing fiction is not therapy per se, although it can help you face your demons a little better. It’s why I wrote TheEmpty Danger, my first book in my series, because in March 2020 I realised was facing the same fears that most people around the world were facing at the same, and while it was terrifying and made me helpless, I also saw an opportunity to explore this potentially unifying force. Could there be something positive in there, somewhere, if I searched hard enough? I hunted with my pen, and The Empty Danger is the result. But I digress. I think what I’m getting to is the idea that the element of lack of control is something we can explore through suspenseful creature fiction, perhaps fantasy that helps us imagine confronting monsters; and maybe this is why the plot structure is so satisfying, when the protagonist goes from being terrified and threatened by the unknown; gradually piecing together scraps of information about the monster, so that it becomes less unknown by degrees; and then, they have a go at fighting it, and even killing it. We get that vicarious joy and relief at being able to destroy something that has stressed us out.But as I’ve been reading about writing monsters, I’ve realised that a lot of this kind of stuff is very much applicable to longer stories – novellas, novels – where you have the space in which to take a protagonist through that journey, of coming to understand and in some way, hopefully, overcome a monster. Turn a feeling of lack of control into a sense of having some control. And I’m sure that I will be writing longer pieces that use these plot devices, because I love them – there’s something in there that I just love. But that doesn’t mean I can’t still use the practice ground of short stories, in fact, you can still fit some of these elements in a shorter piece, it's just that they can’t all be realised to their fullest extent. You can show a glimpse of some of these plot elements rather than necessarily have them play out completely, and dabble in different aspects. And I already know from experience...
Join award-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in a journey into the imagination with tips, techniques and tools you can use to write suspenseful creature fiction. Anna uses the surrealist word game of Exquisite Corpse to generate short story ideas. The results are imagination-bending and a real workout for your creative writing.It’s the ultimate writing prompt challenge. Your weekend is not weird enough (or creative enough) without Brainstoryum!Subscribe for free to Anna Tizard’s private email list and receive an e-book to begin your journey into The Book of Exquisite Corpse (includes exclusive material not published anywhere else). Go to annatizard.com.INTRO: Hello imaginative people! I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 76 of Brainstoryum.Last time, I went quite in-depth in the introduction about a theory I came across as to why, psychologically and culturally, we might in these times find monster fiction a bit more satisfying. Sometimes I think about my own personal psychological reasons as to why I like monster fiction or want to write monster fiction, and I will probably talk about that in another show, but there’s a time to get deep about these things, and there’s a time to just appreciate things for what they are on the surface, and right now, with the sun out for the first time in ages, and I’m not quite in the zone for deep psychological digging, and in fact, that reminds me that creature fiction is not all about darkness. The darkness in fiction, unless it’s the grisliest type of horror, is surely there to help illuminate, to show up the light more brightly. I know when I read a story, I want to find the protagonist not just relatable, but to find in him or her something hopeful, a light that stands out against the darkness.And in a more general way, on a more light-hearted note, I think I just like variety in fiction. The theme of weird creatures (not just monsters, but weird creatures) is so appetising to me because it’s like a challenge: what new weird things can I create? How can I find unique ideas for stories that genuinely surprise me (and I’ve said it many times, I refuse to publish anything that doesn’t surprise me at least twice).Well, the game of ExCo is a great start, and I’ve had some amazing words coming in, filling up the Socks of Destiny – thank you, people. Keep them coming!But on thinking about the psychology of writing, why we write what we write: there’s a time for reflection on that, certainly, and that’s a very useful tool. But equally, there is a time to play. And in fact, there is no better way, as a writer, to hunt down the themes that are to become ‘your’ themes, the underlying ideologies or attitudes to life that emerge in the undertones of your fiction – than to set aside all the thinking, the reflection, and just write. Open your mind to new crafting techniques, suggestions, writing prompts, books about how to write, like this one I’ve reading about Writing Monsters. Learn all you can; but ultimately, the practice is the learning; and the discovery is in the doing.So let’s do it.
Join award-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in a journey into the imagination with tips, techniques and tools you can use to write suspenseful creature fiction for the zeitgeist (including a juicy theory on what that means today). Anna uses the surrealist word game of Exquisite Corpse to generate short story ideas.Ignite your imagination with the ultimate writing promptchallenge. Your weekend is not weird enough (or creative enough) without Brainstoryum!INTRO: Hello imaginative people! I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 75 of Brainstoryum. I’m ready to learn more about writing suspenseful creature fiction – are you? (You can of course, just listen for fun and entertainment; you do not need to be a writer to enjoy the craziness and imagination-yoga of this show.)But before we get into all that, last time I promised to share with you a juicy theory I found in the wilds of the world wide web on why confronting monsters in fiction is a more pertinent theme than ever. Because fantasy isn’t just escape, it’s experiences that we want to have within the safe haven of our imagination, and that can be cathartic for things that are troubling us in reality.Now, this article I came across, in fact it was apodcast, I was just reading the transcription, on a website called...
Whether you like horror or not, fantasy is all about confrontation with the strange and the impossible.Join award-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in an exploration of creature themes, with tips, tricks and tools you can use to develop your writing in new, exciting ways. Naturally, there’s plenty of experimentation with ideas, as Anna uses the surrealist word game of Exquisite Corpse to generate short story ideas while applying new-found learning around the topic of writing monsters.A fascinating exploration of writing craft. Ignite yourimagination with these short story ideas for the ultimate writing prompt challenge. Your weekend is not weird enough (or creative enough) without Brainstoryum!Subscribe for free to Anna Tizard’s private email list andreceive an e-book to begin your journey into The Book of Exquisite Corpse (includesexclusive material not published anywhere else). Go to www.annatizard.com.Hello imaginative people! I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 74 of Brainstoryum.Now, in my last collection of short stories, the theme of Portals and Immortals (which became the title), seemed to emerge of its own accord, intuitively, as I began to recognise these ideas cropping up in my otherwise very different stories. And so it was almost in retrospect – or certainly after I’d got most of the first drafts written – that I made that firm decision to go with that theme. And really it influenced my final decisions on which stories to include in that collection, and not much else.But this time, I want to do more. Now that I’m trying to build towards a new collection (it’s high time I put another one together), I feel like I want to be more proactive.I have observed a theme emerging. But I feel like I have lots to learn, and I’d like to use this show to share some of my learning process along the way; and that’s good, because part of the pleasure and the excitement of being an author is to learn; you’re always learning. And as this is a story brainstorming show, and my listeners send me words which then turn into writing prompts… Why not share more of my thoughts and my learning through my process of writing and experimenting with stories?The theme that I’m already slightly obsessed with, and if you glance back at some of the latest story brainstorms, you’ll notice it’s there: isweird creatures.Sometimes monsters but not always. Creatures can include ghosts, dragons, creatures from fairytales, mythology, we’ve had a few kelpies on the show; and characters who aren’t completely human.I’m not a horror writer; sometimes I dip into horror themes or get a bit scary; but if you’ve listened to the last show, the Trope Special, you’ll already understand that authors potentially borrow story elements from all different genres. I don’t like gore. If I’m reading a book with a bit of gore in it I might grit my teeth and get through it IF I’m particularly enjoying that book for its story and characters. So ifyouare not a horror reader (or a horror writer), or even if you don’t feel that drawn to the idea of monsters, I firmly believe there will be plenty going on in this show to entice and stir your imagination.
Can tropes – story ideas which have been churned around and repeated for centuries, if not millennia – actually improve your stories and make them more original?
Join award-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in an exploration of story tropes, with tips, tricks and tools you can use to develop your writing in new, exciting ways. Naturally, there’s plenty of experimentation with ideas, as Anna uses the surrealist word game of Exquisite Corpse to generate short story ideas before testing out different tropes and seeing what happens next.
A fascinating exploration of writing craft. Ignite your
imagination with these short story ideas for the ultimate writing prompt challenge. Your weekend is not weird enough (or creative enough) without Brainstoryum!
Subscribe for free to Anna Tizard’s private email list and
receive an e-book to begin your journey into The Book of Exquisite Corpse (includes exclusive material not published anywhere else). Go to www.annatizard.com.
INTRO: Hello imaginative people! I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 73 of Brainstoryum. Now, in the last couple of weeks, it seems I’ve become a little bit obsessed with tropes – or re-obsessed with tropes, as this is an aspect of my writing journey that I’ve explored before, but I just haven’t yet shared it on Brainstoryum. (Or experimented with them on here – as this podcast isn’t just about sharing my writing process and story ideas, it’s also my imaginative playground for experimenting and, well, learning.)
It’s funny, because every introduction I’ve come across, either in a book or a podcast or a blog on tropes, begins by acknowledging that a lot of writers think tropes are a dirty word and that they seem to represent the exact opposite of what we are gunning for as creative writers of fiction. We want new ideas, and as authors we want to be original and to stand out from the crowd, not churn out the same old storylines that have been written or filmed a thousand times before. And yes, at first glance, for me as a writer who especially loves the unexpected, who complains about struggling to find stories that satisfy this desire for something “with a special different something” in it, tropes do seem like the very antithesis of what I’m interested in. But that’s where my younger writing self was wrong.
Tropes are part of the language of story. They embody concepts, themes and situations or character types which we as readers and audiences expect to read or watch, though sometimes only instinctively, without realising it. A lot of these expectations are bound up in certain genres, for example, in fantasy, common tropes include the "journey" and the "quest".
Part of the reason why we as fantasy lovers read fantasy is to experience the vicarious excitement of the protagonist going on a journey into the unknown, having to face strange and dangerous obstacles, possibly creatures, and having a sense of a purpose or mission; it’s all part of the escape that fantasy promises for us.
So how do we as writers fulfill these expectations (or even “needs”, you might say) of our audience, while producing something that feels fresh and original, and not cliched?
The key to wielding the power of tropes is through unusual and unexpected combinations: switching and splicing tropes from across different genres has become a very popular, and this is what a lot of the big blockbuster movies manage to do.
I could wax lyrical on this for a while, but the point of this podcast is to share with you the process of my experimental methods of generating story ideas, and what better way is there to really explore an idea than to actually test it out. So today’s show is going to involve a bit more experimentation, and as I’m brainstorming a story, I’m going to identify the tropes that are appearing, and also try drawing in different tropes to see what new directions these suggest.
It’s my hope that this will not only be entertaining, but it may help you make up your mind what you think about tropes, how you might use them, and whether you might apply the same kind of experimental thinking in your own writing when you’re approaching a new story idea. Sparked off by this show, I have just created a free resource on this topic online, so keep listening to find out more, because I think this will be a very handy tool, especially if you are new to messing around with tropes; because of course, all creativity begins with rolling up your sleeves and messing around; a playful attitude is what inspiration responds to.
Your weekend is not weird enough without Brainstoryum! Join award-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in a journey into creative writing and short stories using the surrealist word game of Exquisite Corpse. Listeners’ words are drawn from the legendary Socks of Destiny and mixed into writing prompts which lead to the most unexpected story ideas – and a fascinating exploration of writing craft. This show includes 3 new story ideas plus plenty of “how to” tips on writing craft. Ignite your imagination with these short stories and ideas for the ultimate writing prompt challenge.
Subscribe for free to Anna Tizard’s private email list and
receive an e-book to begin your journey into The Book of Exquisite Corpse (includes exclusive material not published anywhere else). Go to www.annatizard.com.
INTRO: Hello imaginative people! I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 72 of Brainstoryum.
Now January can be a difficult month – we may be expected to express enthusiasm which we might not feel. I’m hoping that I can provide some well-earned escapism today in the form of adventures into the imagination; but first, also because it’s a difficult month, I want to talk a little bit about doubt.
Doubt is one of those things that never quite goes away. That niggling feeling that what you’re writing might not be good enough; that no-one will want to read it. But doubt and I have spent many years in each other’s company, and this much I can share from long-term experience: Doubt doesn’t have to be your enemy.
Your weekend is not weird enough without Brainstoryum! Join award-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in a journey into short story writing using the surrealist word game of Exquisite Corpse. Listeners’ words are drawn from the legendary Socks of Destiny and mixed into writing prompts which lead to the most unexpected story ideas – and a fascinating exploration of writing craft. This new year show includes stories around circuses, gargoyles, hunters and a mysterious stone. Ignite your imagination with these stories and ideas for the ultimate writing prompt challenge.
Subscribe for free to Anna Tizard’s private email list and get vol 1 in The Book of Exquisite Corpse plus exclusive material not published anywhere else! All at www.annatizard.com.
INTRO: Happy new year to you, imaginative people! I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 71 of Brainstoryum. It’s 2025. It really is. Actually, it’s the first of January as I record this and in the UK it is ridiculously windy.
Anyway: happy new year to you; I hope you’ve had a wonderful and restful break over Christmas.
Have you made any new year’s resolutions? Have I?
I tend to avoid making heavy-going decisions in the middle of winter when my natural inclination is to hide under a duvet with a torch and a good book. But it’s a difficult idea to resist, because it seems to positive, plus everything seems to scream at you, “new year, new you”, when really, your personal new year is your birthday; although I’d say springtime is the natural new year, if anything. If the trees and the plants can be bothered to wake up and do something, well, maybe I can make the same effort. I’d say, don’t make resolutions because the adverts say you should (or if other people say you should); do it if it helps you gain clarity on what you’d like to achieve.
For my part, it’s difficult to set goals beyond my regular goal of producing this show. I don’t talk about it much, but...
*This episode is available as a mini ebook! Go to www.annatizard.com/brainstoryum for details*
Your weekend is not weird enough without Brainstoryum! Join award-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in a journey into short story writing using the surrealist word game of Exquisite Corpse. Listeners’ words are drawn from the legendary Socks of Destiny and mixed into writing prompts which lead to the most unexpected story ideas – and a fascinating exploration of writing craft.
In this slightly longer show, Anna delves into storytelling techniques to hook your reader from the very first line, plus how to get un-stuck when you’re writing a new story. Ignite your imagination with these stories and ideas for
the ultimate writing prompt challenge.
INTRO: Hello imaginative people! I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 70 of Brainstoryum. It’s actually the winter solstice today, as this releases, which means that no matter how cold and icy and horrible it might get in the coming weeks and
months, from now on we are moving towards the light. Inching towards the light. Keep that knowledge with you – no matter how grey and miserable it gets, you know we’re heading in the right direction. (Those not living in the northern hemisphere will be like, “What the problem?” Well, we’re all jealous of you, that’s the problem!)
Now today’s show is indeed the Christmas special! And I’ve been wondering how I can make this Christmassy without being cheesy or chintzy. Spooky toyshops? Rebel elves? Or can I just throw in a sprinkling of snow? Hopefully we won’t get any “picturesque executioners”, that unbelievable word combination that came up in the last show – although I found a way, a non-horror way, to develop that one. (Thank goodness.)
But, as ever, how can I plan? How can I anticipate? The game of Exquisite Corpse is my doorway into the unknown and the strange magic of the imagination, making connections, hunting stories in the most unlikely places. Stepping out on this path, all I can do is hold up my mental torch and see where it takes me by being attentive to the whispers of my subconscious mind; although, I could be holding a Christmassy lantern instead of a torch, that casts a holly and berry pattern on the ground… Of course, the shadows may always lengthen and twist into something else. (This is probably as far as this metaphor will stretch, so I’ll stop there!) But will there be Christmas cheer, or Christmas chills, in the stories that emerge today?
Who knows? Because the building blocks of these stories will come from your words, your suggestions, and the whims and wild winds of randomness that blow from the Socks of Destiny...
Your weekend is not exciting enough without Brainstoryum! Join award-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in a journey into short story writing using the surrealist word game of Exquisite Corpse. Listeners’ words are drawn from the legendary Socks of Destiny and mixed into writing prompts which lead to the most unexpected story ideas – and a fascinating exploration of writing craft.
In this slightly longer show, Anna delves into storytelling techniques to hook your reader from the very first line, plus how to get un-stuck when you’re writing a new story. Grab a blanket – grab a pen! – and switch your imagination
on with these stories and ideas for the ultimate writing prompt challenge.
Subscribe for free to Anna Tizard’s private email list and get vol 1 in The Book of Exquisite Corpse plus exclusive material not published anywhere else! All at www.annatizard.com.
INTRO: Hello imaginative people! I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 69 of Brainstoryum. I cannot believe it’s December already, and this is the last show before the Christmas show (whatever that will be. I haven’t really thought about that.) Well, today’s show is a real mix of writing experiences. Once again, words pulled at random from the socks of destiny will generate writing prompts like you’ve never heard before (like I’ve never heard before). And while, as usual, it’s the third and last round which leads to the longer, more complete story that I read out on the show (using the pause button to draft it, of course), this time, the third story turns out to be the most difficult – and the most revealing. I’ve been thinking about sharing more on process and writing techniques in this show; not quite going back to the earlier format where I talked at length at the beginning, but sort of sneaking in observations and helpful tips in between the story brainstorms, and in a way, it’s very handy that this time, on story no. 3, I got stuck for a while. Because it’s the tricky stories, the ones that make you work the hardest, in a way, that can reveal the most about technique, and process. There is nothing quite like getting stumped by a story, to reveal process, and make you stop and think, and consider what works. When a story just flows intuitively, without much difficulty, that demonstrates that you’ve learned and absorbed techniques so well they’ve become subconscious. But then that makes it much harder to describe what you’ve just done. But getting stuck – as I do today, for a little while: that pushed me to experiment and to share different methods that I was trying, and which I know from experience work for me – so I hope that will be interesting and maybe even useful for your own writing.
So on with the show.
Join award-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in a journey into unexpected stories using the surrealist word game of Exquisite Corpse. Listeners’ words
are drawn from the legendary Socks of Destiny and mixed into weird writing prompts which end up making more sense than they should! This time, nature spirits are the emerging theme, for three chilling story ideas. Grab a blanket – grab a pen! – and switch your imagination on with these stories and ideas for the ultimate writing prompt challenge.
Subscribe for free to Anna Tizard’s private email list and get vol 1 in The Book of Exquisite Corpse plus exclusive material not published anywhere else! All at www.annatizard.com.
INTRO: Hello imaginative people! I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 68 of Brainstoryum. Once again, I will be pulling words at random from the socks of destiny to create writing prompts like you’ve never heard before. It’s occurred to me that the best of the three always comes last in the show but that new listeners might not know this as you begin listening. Well, as usual, the fullest story, and perhaps the best one of the bunch, unfolds last, almost as if the tensions and half-glimpsed mysteries of the first two story ideas, with all their brewing potential, gather like a story-force finally breaking through; the early meanderings of the curious imagination, after a little time – a bit of warming up – are ready by writing prompt no. 3 to sharpen their focus and find a clearer beginning, middle and an end.
Maybe as writers and storytellers we are all bound to dabble, and daydream about many possibilities, some of which are always going to be left half-explored – until we reach (or come across) an idea that’s really worth grabbing with both hands and turning it into something fuller.
So listen on to the end, my friend, for as usual, I leave the best to last.
What does a dragon’s dream look like? Is there a ghost inside your clock? And how could a ceramic urn be venomous? All these ideas and more will be dug into,
with the dual power of pen and imagination…
Join award-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in a journey into unexpected stories using the surrealist word game of Exquisite Corpse. Listeners’ words are drawn from the legendary Socks of Destiny and mixed into weird writing prompts which end up making more sense than they should! Post-Halloween, the spooky
themes are still cropping up in these inspired short stories. Grab a blanket – grab a pen! – and switch your imagination on with these stories and ideas for the ultimate writing prompt challenge.
Subscribe for free to Anna Tizard’s private email list and get vol 1 in The Book of Exquisite Corpse plus exclusive material not published anywhere else! All at www.annatizard.com.
INTRO: Hello imaginative people! I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 67 of Brainstoryum. Now if you're still in the Halloween mood I’ll be sure to have some stories for you, as I’m still in a bit of a spooky mood and, well, the socks of destiny seem to respond to that. The writing prompts might be randomised but there’s often a little extra something that I suspect is going on – serendipity, or possibly just the power of the imagination, although we all know there’s no “just” about that.
Before we get started on the new story brainstorms, I’ll share with you my listeners’ ideas on the “crystalline zombie” which was the prompt from the last show, so there’s a ghoulish flavour before we’ve even started – but before that, I have some very exciting news...
Your weekend is not weird enough without Brainstoryum.
Wine, poison, monsters, delirium and fights! Listen on to imagine these and more...
Join award-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in a wild journey into the imagination using the surrealist word game of Exquisite Corpse. Listeners’ words are drawn from the legendary Socks of Destiny and mixed into weird writing prompts which end up making more sense than they should! In this Halloween special show, Anna brainstorms stories from these game results,
finding spooky themes emerging, wherever she turns. The last Exquisite Corpse result inspires a complete short story, perfectly ghoulish and in time for Halloween. Grab a blanket and a hot beverage and be prepared for some shivers.
Subscribe for free to Anna Tizard’s private email list and get vol 1 in The Book of Exquisite Corpse plus exclusive material not published anywhere else! All at
www.annatizard.com.
INTRO: Hello imaginative people! I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 66 of Brainstoryum. It is also the Halloween special. Listeners’ words will be drawn from the legendary Socks of Destiny and mixed into weird writing prompts… which will end up making more sense than they have any right to! But being mindful of the spooky season, will I find ghoulish ideas creeping out from every crevice of the socks? Of course I will. Things seem to work out that way – ideas seem to fulfil a need when you play a surrealist word game. (I didn’t invent it, I just follow the surrealists’ lead and see what happens.) And yes, today, there will be another complete short story, perfectly ghoulish and just in time for Halloween. So grab a blanket – grab a pen! – and be prepared for some shivers.
Your weekend is not weird enough without Brainstoryum!
Join award-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in a journey into the imagination with weird and wild Exquisite Corpse writing prompts resulting from a LIVE GAME SESSION! In this special show, Anna will brainstorm stories from several Exquisite Corpses and finish with a completed short story based on some of these results. It will be creepy and dark, so grab a blanket and a hot beverage and be prepared for some shivers.
Subscribe for free to Anna Tizard’s private email list and get vol 1 in The Book of Exquisite Corpse plus exclusive material not published anywhere else! All at www.annatizard.com.
INTRO: Hello imaginative people! I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 65 of Brainstoryum.
I hope you’re ready for some weird and wild story ideas because today’s show is full of them in this special episode reflecting on a live game session I was lucky enough to be a part of.
That's right – I mentioned last time that I was getting really excited about a live storytelling event in Brighton, where I live, where I was building up to hosting a round of Exquisite Corpse with that audience, some of whom are actual, professional storytellers.
The logical part of my brain said I should be nervous. I only felt excited – until I got there. And when I walked in, when I stood up there on the little stage area, I knew anything could happen. When you’re mixing other people’s words,
you really don’t have any control over what is coming. I had no pause button, no pot of green tea…
But it was enormous fun, everyone got into it, and the results were of course, completely bizarre – and got us all thinking about some story ideas. At the end of the session, I announced my challenge: to write a complete short story based on some of the results of that evening. (At this, there were some baffled and slightly disbelieving stares, as you might expect!)
So today’s show is going to be a bit different without the socks of destiny, but in fact, there will be more ExCos, more story brainstorms, and, as promised, one completed short story which I’ve written based the results – and it is almost startlingly creepy and very dark. So be warned.
As ever, these weird word combinations prompted me to explore characters and situations that I would not otherwise dream up on my own. And I hope it does
the same for you.
Join award-winning fantasy and dreampunk author, Anna Tizard, in a wild journey into the imagination with this new episode packed with creative writing ideas, stories and insights. Listeners share short story ideas based on “the creepy writing desk”. Plus enjoy 3 new writing prompts generated by the mysterious word game of Exquisite Corpse.
Subscribe for free to Anna Tizard’s private email list and get vol 1 in The Book of Exquisite Corpse plus exclusive material not published anywhere else! All at www.annatizard.com.
INTRO: Hello imaginative people! I’m Anna Tizard and this is episode 64 of Brainstoryum.
Today, as ever, I will be making excellent use of the “pause” button to brainstorm story ideas from the bizarre and always challenging game of ExCo. (I do like a good writing prompt challenge.) Please join in if you fancy giving it a go yourself: grab a pen and reach for your pause button if you feel the stirrings of a story idea you want to try. For writing is the practice of wonder… We never quite know what’s going to happen next, and that’s the real magic of the imagination.
First, I’ll be sharing some story ideas from listeners who did just that: hit the pause button and wrote down what they thought might happen in a story about the “creepy writing desk”. Was it horror, fantasy, thriller writing, or a mix of all three?
Stay tuned to find out, then afterwards, I’ll be reaching into the socks of destiny for 3 new journeys into our imagination.
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