Technology
The Storymatic
Writing is easy!
Writer & Marlboro writing professor Brian Mooney just launched this website where you can buy (or just learn about) his writing aid/ game/ teaching aid/ toy The Storymatic. Here’s how it works:
“The Storymatic consists of 250 ivory cards and 250 silver cards. Each ivory card contains a character trait or occupation. Each silver card contains a situation or object. Wild Cards contain instructions about where and when your story takes place, and how it must be told.
“…First, draw two ivory cards. Then combine the information on these two cards to create your main character. For example, if you draw “surgeon” and “amateur boxer,” your character is a surgeon who is also a boxer.
“Next, draw one or two silver cards. Let the information on the cards lead you into a story. If, for example, your cards say “box of teeth” and “pair of pants that don’t fit right,” then perhaps after a night in the ring Dr. Boxer always scans the floor of the ring for the teeth of his opponents, but maybe Dr. Boxer has put on some extra weight due to his long days at the hospital, causing him to slow down in the ring, and then…”
On the website Brian explains how The Storymatic is useful for graphic artists & teachers & writers of all kinds, but also that it can just be a game for people who like to play games. Here’s one example:
“The Improvisational Storymatic
2. The first storyteller draws two ivory cards and combines them to make one character. The storyteller then draws two silver cards.
3. The storyteller can put back one card if it does not fit with the others. The storyteller then has fifteen seconds to collect his or her thoughts and begin telling the story.
4. The storyteller must finish within 6 minutes.
5. Listeners judge the story on a 1-10 scale. After the score is tallied, a new timekeeper is appointed and the next person goes.
…This is just one of several games that are in the 23-page booklet “Welcome to The Storymatic,” which comes with every Storymatic.”
I think this looks like fun and if I was a teacher and could write is off as a job expense then I would buy one right now. Since I am not a teacher I am going to ask for one for my birthday.
Tags: Brian Mooney, The Storymatic
this is an interesting idea… i think it would work well in a high school class… maybe a freshman intro class.
i think i have some index cards around here somewhere…
this is an interesting idea… i think it would work well in a high school class… maybe a freshman intro class.
i think i have some index cards around here somewhere…
It is a good looking object. Brian started using The Storymatic at the Putney School Summer Programs (high school age kids.)
It is a good looking object. Brian started using The Storymatic at the Putney School Summer Programs (high school age kids.)
in some ways it reminds me of Jason Rekulak’s Writer’s Block… in terms of function more than look…
in some ways it reminds me of Jason Rekulak’s Writer’s Block… in terms of function more than look…
holy shit, i went to marlboro. actually i still live minutes from marlboro. it’s so weird to see it referenced on the giant. it only has 300 students, more like a summer camp than a college. i remember when i first found out about it, and said who the fuck in their right mind would go here… then i saw a pack of live peacocks roaming around the campus, and i said, oh… i’m gonna go here. the fact that there was a mental institution 15mins away was the icing on the cake.
thanks catherine, seeing a marlboro reference made me all tingly.
holy shit, i went to marlboro. actually i still live minutes from marlboro. it’s so weird to see it referenced on the giant. it only has 300 students, more like a summer camp than a college. i remember when i first found out about it, and said who the fuck in their right mind would go here… then i saw a pack of live peacocks roaming around the campus, and i said, oh… i’m gonna go here. the fact that there was a mental institution 15mins away was the icing on the cake.
thanks catherine, seeing a marlboro reference made me all tingly.
Actually, I met Brian at a summer camp in Vermont where he teaches creative writing and I was “teaching” sculpture. But Marlboro sounds good! peacocks!
Actually, I met Brian at a summer camp in Vermont where he teaches creative writing and I was “teaching” sculpture. But Marlboro sounds good! peacocks!
But this way you don’t have to spend time making the cards. Sounds like he already did it for you and has a bunch of suggestions you might not think of besides. And the silver cards look slicker then index cards.
I guess the question is, What’s your time worth? Can you make 500 slick cards in an hour?
But this way you don’t have to spend time making the cards. Sounds like he already did it for you and has a bunch of suggestions you might not think of besides. And the silver cards look slicker then index cards.
I guess the question is, What’s your time worth? Can you make 500 slick cards in an hour?