Drawing Words & Writing Pictures: Play Your Cards Right
If you don’t have the book (yet, that is, go get it! You can read more about it here.), here’s an abbreviated version of the exercise, I think you’ll still have a lot of fun.
You’re going to be developing two characters and then coming up with a story for them, all based on some random elements you’ll be getting in just a moment. First, here are your random character cards for two characters. No take-backs, no reloads… use what you’ve been given here. I know your creativity will be up to the challenge.
Your Character Cards
Character 1
Occupation: Chef
Personality Trait: Sarcastic
Physical Trait: Overweight
Character 2
Occupation: Magician
Personality Trait: Caregiver
Physical Trait: Very short
Now, spend about five minutes developing each character. You can work on this alone, or get a friend and do one character each. Think about the character’s physical description (name, age, sex, etc.), the characters personality/professional history (education, relationships, etc.). Make sure you take the given occupation and physical trait into account. You’ll find a lot more questions to help you develop your character in the book.
If you’re working with a friend, describe your characters to one another. If they seem mismatched to you, come up with a scenario in which your characters could know each other.
Once you finish working on your characters, generate a story spark by clicking here. You’ll find instructions on what to do next on the story spark page.
By the way, when I first learned this game, it involved creating one character and drawing a one page story using the story spark. Here’s a link to the one I ever created using those older rules (I drew mime, witty, eyepatch and an operation).