Sue Viders—I love this—is fondly called "The Author's Author." When she presented her idea for the Deal a Story card game to us to publish, I got very excited. What a concept! It is an innovative card game that helps writers overcome creative downtime and the discomfort of facing a blank page. I wish all writing teachers used this in their classes!
Deal A Story is a deck of 101 cards that can produce over one million story ideas. It combines characters with a variety of plots and genres, offering a unique way to develop interesting story concepts and add new life to old plots or cardboard characters. Deal a Story is designed to assist writers to:
- Think outside-the-box
- Encourage dynamic story development
- Break through writer’s block
- Brainstorm
- Supplement a story already in progress
- Give excitement to a sagging middle
- Get fresh ideas
- Stimulate the creative process
- Have FUN —alone or with others
- Help with a sub-plot
- Give a character a more interesting personality
- Add depth and meaning to a story
- Learn the archetypes
- Try an idea out with a different plot
- OR in a different genre
There are six different-colored sections, each containing 16 cards, plus 5 wild cards. Deal a Story combines characters with a variety of plots and genres, giving the writer unique ways to dream up new stories. The writer picks a card from each different colored group and is automatically presented with the start of a story. This is an ideal teaching tool for almost any level of creative writing classes including adults, college and high school student, for screen writing and improvisation workshops and theater groups, and for critique groups.