In their comics creation textbook Drawing Words & Writing Pictures, Jessica Abel and Matt Madden provide an exercise called “Play Your Cards Right”. You’ll find it in Chapter 10. I’ve created a digital version to save you the work of creating your own cards.
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:
Exterminator
Personality Trait:
Irritable
Physical Trait:
Large teeth
Character 2
Occupation:
Candy manufacturer
Personality Trait:
Dour
Physical Trait:
Eyepatch
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).
