Tools of the Trade
A source for brainstorming, free writing and maybe some introspection.
Over the summer, I went to a great author talk on writing Historical Fiction at the Doylestown Bookshop, my local indie book store and a fabulous resource for writers. At the event, I connected with a small group of other writers, and we decided to start a small writing group. While that didn’t work out for me, for a multitude of reasons, I learned about a valuable writing/thinking tool at the meeting I attended: OH! Cards. Here’s what the inside of the box says about them.
OH Cards! are, first and foremost, a little difficult to obtain. I found mine on eBay after running a search bot for over a month to find a set that were affordable. They weren’t available through a US retail channel, and the Canadian channels were out of them. They may be available at this time, but I honestly don’t know. Check their website at www.OH-Cards.com to see if you can buy them there.
Here’s what we did at that meeting. The two decks of 88 cards each were shuffled thoroughly and passed around the table. Each person took two cards, one word and one image. Here’s a photo of the set I pulled at random.
Then, we set a timer for ten minutes (cue the Thinking Music from Jeopardy)
Here’swhat I wrote during the free writing exercise:
The flames licked through the windows, the smell of burnt rayon assaulting his nostrils.
“C’mon! Run that hose over here! Pronto!”
Frank fed more hose to the captain as two other first responders unwound the canvas loaded reel.
“Done!” shouted a voice through the smoke and haze.
The hose expanded, flaccid to fully pressurized in fractions of a second.
“Frank, come here and steady her while I get inside.” The captain drew a water-soaked bandana over his mouth and nose, heading to the front door.
Taking the stairs two at a time, he searched the house he’d visited so many times. He cocked his head, listening, hearing the roar of the hot air rushing out the broken windows. Then, over the din, he heard a cough. After checking under the nearby closed door for fire, he opened it and grabbed the hand that reached out from near the floor without hesitation.
Frank’s son would live.
Here’s what I’m hoping we can do together. For the next few weeks (longer if this works out well), I’ll draw two random cards from the deck. I’ll post them here for any of you who wish to free write to them. If you do, and you’d like to share them either to a comment here, or your own note, please feel free to do so! I’d love to see what my community creates. I will post my free write the following week, along with a new draw of cards.
Think of it as virtually getting to know each other. Or just a random writing exercise. Come play with me! Here are the first two cards for you to free write to.
Enjoy the creativity! See you all soon with more ideas.