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Challenge #407
Oct. 23rd, 2024 11:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shivverToday's challenge is not a writing exercise, but a thinking exercise.
Imagine a situation for your characters to get through. It could be very simple, such as deciding in what order to do the tasks on today's to-do list to make it efficient, or it could be complex, such as the hero has to figure out how to stop the execution of someone they know.
Next, think about the situation and come up with at least three possible solutions or courses of action, or more if possible. They don't have to be good, and in fact, stupid and/or absurd solutions are encouraged. Think outside the box!
Now, write it all down: the situation, as well as your ideas for the solutions. By "write it down", I mean, explain the idea, not write the story.
The idea here is to see how putting your ideas into words helps solidify them, and you can then see them in front of you and start considering which ones are worth developing and which should be discarded.
Example:
The situation: The lord of the town has ordered the execution of the traveling merchant by hanging at the gallows at noon. The hero wants to stop this.
Possible solutions:
* The hero runs up to the lord to argue him out of it.
* The hero offers himself in the place of the merchant.
* The hero sneaks in and backstabs the hangman at the last second.
* The hero has his friend the archer shoot through the rope.
* The hero has his friend the wizard magick up a solar eclipse - no noon, no execution.
Imagine a situation for your characters to get through. It could be very simple, such as deciding in what order to do the tasks on today's to-do list to make it efficient, or it could be complex, such as the hero has to figure out how to stop the execution of someone they know.
Next, think about the situation and come up with at least three possible solutions or courses of action, or more if possible. They don't have to be good, and in fact, stupid and/or absurd solutions are encouraged. Think outside the box!
Now, write it all down: the situation, as well as your ideas for the solutions. By "write it down", I mean, explain the idea, not write the story.
The idea here is to see how putting your ideas into words helps solidify them, and you can then see them in front of you and start considering which ones are worth developing and which should be discarded.
Example:
The situation: The lord of the town has ordered the execution of the traveling merchant by hanging at the gallows at noon. The hero wants to stop this.
Possible solutions:
* The hero runs up to the lord to argue him out of it.
* The hero offers himself in the place of the merchant.
* The hero sneaks in and backstabs the hangman at the last second.
* The hero has his friend the archer shoot through the rope.
* The hero has his friend the wizard magick up a solar eclipse - no noon, no execution.