My first word on the noun generator was chair.
“The hard oaken chair under her butt was as irritating as trying to discipline oneself in a fancy bakery. It caused her to squirm and wonder what in the world she would write next. Instead, she got up and ate a cookie.”
Thanks, Jody. It was delicious.
And thanks to Rosanne, for the ideas below, which will serve me well in the future. One hundred setting and character ideas from which to glean.
Settings
- Ten places I’ve lived in my life. (I didn’t realize I have actually lived in this many different homes.)
- Fairlock house
- Virginia house
- Clark Ave. apartment
- Veurink’s apartment
- 16th Street house
- Grand Avenue house
- Superintendent’s home
- College house
- Sutton Place
- Hearn Rd.
- 5th Street
- Ten places I have a strong emotional connection to
- the backyard-filling, ground to sky avocado tree at Uncle Arthur and Aunt Thelma’s
- the California desert
- Disneyland
- Trinity Bible Church
- Lander, Wyoming
- Yellowstone National Park
- Spalding
- Huntington Beach
- Aunt Josephine and Uncle Ellery’s farm
- my kitchen
- Ten places I have visited on vacation or places I’d love to visit in my lifetime were money and time no object.
- Seattle
- Surrey, B.C.
- Nespelem Community, Washington
- Christ the Redeemer statue and Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro
- Australia and the Great Barrier Reef
- Boston
- Washington, D.C.
- Paris
- London
- Rome
- the moon
- Angel Falls in Venezuela
- Ten places from which my ancestors or in-laws come. (My daughter and I just took a 3 hour break on Ancestry.com! Yikes–it is amazing, the information that is there about our relatives.)
- Wales
- Bern, Switzerland
- Germany
- Georgia
- Alabama
- Texas
- Los Angeles
- Ohio
- Michigan
- Maryland
- Washington, D.C.
- Ten books or movies that have settings I’ve found particularly captivating.
- The Help – I felt myself tempted to speak with an accent and I became more interested in southern culture as a result of this book.
- Larklight – I was fascinated with the historical science fiction setting in this book. It was during Britain’s colonial period where they colonized outer space, as well, with big wooden spaceships.
- James and the Giant Peach – Being inside the peach pit of a giant peach is pretty intriguing.
- The Odyssey and O Brother, Where Art Thou? – The whole epic journey story and fighting against the elements and bad guys were enjoyable in these stories.
- The Trumpet of the Swan – I love the northern Canada woodlands for a setting, as well as the crazy world where a trumpet-blowing and writing swan makes sense.
- Animal Farm – Maybe it’s the characters that are more captivating than the farm setting, but the whole idea captivates me.
- Saving Private Ryan – World War II is a time in history that is so interesting. I can’t watch this movie without getting motion sick, though.
- Alice’s Adventures Wonderland – I would love to go to this crazy place!
- Lord of the Flies – I wouldn’t want to live their story, but the island would be interesting to visit.
- Indiana Jones series – The setting in these movies is wonderful. Dangerous, but always conquerable if you keep close to Indy.
Characters
- Ten jobs I’ve done in my life
- packing tacks with a tiny scale in my house as a kid
- farmer’s market baker
- gardener
- teacher
- reading specialist
- Hallmark card store clerk
- secretary
- staffing clerk at a hospital
- babysitter
- editor
- Ten famous people, historical or contemporary, that I would love to share a meal with.
- Ten ethnicities, religions, tribes, cultural groups, gender or sexual orientations, or political philosophies that are represented in my extended family.
- Protestant Christian
- Catholic Christian
- Christian Scientist
- Jewish
- white
- Mexican
- Vietnamese
- Japanese
- straight
- gay
- Democrat
- Republican
- conservative
- liberal
- Ten people who can make you laugh.
- Cheryl W. – storyteller extraordinaire
- Brenda O. – ditto
- Steve Martin
- Tina Fey
- Seth Myers
- Krayton – talented, warm, inclusive
- Cesar – smiling, dancing, laughing
- Katie – dry, rich sense of humor and funny sounds when she gets going
- Mr. Thornberg – high school business teacher
- This sentence ten times. “I’ve always wanted to _____ like ____________.
- I’ve always wanted to sing like Carole King.
- I’ve always wanted to converse like Keith.
- I’ve always wanted to relay stories like Cheryl.
- I’ve always wanted to confront like Chris.
- I’ve always wanted to save money like Katie.
- I’ve always wanted to innovate like Steve Jobs.
- I’ve always wanted to be a problem solver like my mom.
- I’ve always wanted to never give up like Joey.
- I’ve always wanted to read as fast as Maria.
- I’ve always wanted to cook like Julia Childs.