“Five Generator Sites to Help Inspire and Challenge You”
By Melissa K. Vassar-Belloso
Any creative can tell you that inspiration is often not an endless process. Even the most creative person gets stuck or runs out of ideas at times. But what do you do during those times? Being stagnant is by far one of the worst things that can happen for a creative and sometimes all you really need is a little push to get your creative juices flowing again.Today on Creative 5 we’ll be looking at five generator sites perfect for emergency inspiration or a fun project.
Why Use a Generator?
Before we get to the list of generators, let’s discuss what they are and why you might consider using one. Being creative isn’t easy and inspiration is unpredictable even for the best of us in the creative community. Sometimes getting those creative juices flowing is as easy as finding the right idea or flexing your creative muscles on a small project. That’s where a generator can be the ideal tool. Random generators are not only a great way to explore ideas but also a fun way to do it. While most of them won’t be the impetus to your next great masterpiece,they can be a great prompt to get your started on something and even a fun way to tackle something different.
Generators aren’t exactly a new concept. Random generators have been a popular item on the internet for years and while they are mostly aimed at random and casual fun, they have a lot of value as a creative tool as well. Brainstorming can take on a whole new level when you challenge yourself with a random prompt. It forces you to think outside of your own box and may be just the spark you need to feel inspired for your regular projects.
The Sites
As with all my lists,this is just my opinion and the goal is to get you started on your own exploration of generators to add to your creative workflow. If you feel that I’ve misjudged a site,chosen poorly, or missed a site then that’s okay. We’re allowed to have different opinions and I would encourage you to try them and use what works best for you.
Generator Land
Generator Land is probably one of the more impressive sites on the list because in addition to a huge directory of generators, you can also make your own generators at no cost and be able to use them repeatedly or even share your created generators with the world. The concept behind the site is incredibly cool because a community of people creating generators means the sky is the limit on what you can find there and the functionality to make your own generators is not just fun but really useful if you take advantage of it.
Fantasy Name Generators
Fantasy Name Generators is a bit confusing to navigate and slightly jarring to look at but the sheer number of generators available there makes the effort well worth it. The generators range from ones for original concepts to ones based on fandom and they are well organized considering just how many of them there are.
RanGen
RanGen is not just a generator site that’s great to look at but also great to use. The generators all work well and the presentation of content is very clean and nicely done. While it doesn’t have the sheer number of generators some of the other sites have, I really felt a goal of quality over quantity on this site and think it’s worth a visit. As a bonus I really like the extra touches like the writing prompts as opposed to just dumping a bunch of generators on you but not demonstrating how they can be useful to your workflow.
ConceptStart
ConceptStart really exudes a unique approach where the generators are meant to truly be creative tools. The great generators combined with the fun design makes any visit there a true experience to appreciate. I also really like that you can customize fields and save results as sheets. It’s a great touch that adds a lot of functionality to an otherwise basic generator.You can even access more resources and even better generators by opting into a very reasonably priced membership pack.
Springhole
Springhole is impressive because it’s not just a generator site but also a great resource for learning topics on writing and character design among other things. It’s a simple but effective site that lets the quality content speak for itself and I would highly recommend checking it out.
Other Sites of Interest
Seventh Sanctum
Seventh Sanctum is one of the original and perhaps best known generator sites. While it definitely leans more toward fun time-killer versus serious creative inspiration for the most part, it still has a ton of great generators and is worth checking out.
Character Generator
Character Generator isn’t quite as impressive or packed with generators as some of the the other sites on the list but it has good content and looks very promising despite that. I would definitely check it out if you’re looking for some quality character prompts to get you started toward your next great OC.
Art Prompts
Art Prompts is very simple and small but it’s a site I can definitely see inspiring some people.It’s not quite in-depth enough for my tastes but if you like something simple,quick, and fun for a burst of inspiration it might be right up your alley.
Writingexercises.co.uk
Writingexercises.co.uk is not as impressive with some of its generators as some of the other sites on the list but I like that it has a good number of them geared toward writers and a few really unique ones. It’s a small and good looking site that I would definitely recommend to anyone looking to develop characters for a piece of writing and there are some great inspirations and tips on the site as well.
Conclusion
While it may seem like I covered a lot today,keep in mind that this list is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the generators available out there. The next time you feel a little uninspired or maybe want to challenge yourself a little, consider trying a generator. It might be just the push you need to get back to business and cold even lead you to a new creative adventure entirely.
Thanks for reading this issue of Creative 5!
Do you agree or disagree with me? Have you ever used generators to get inspired before? Please feel free to let me know by leaving a comment or using the contact form on my site here to reach out to me. Also if you like my work and would like to see more of it or support it I’d love it if you’d check out my Patreon page or follow me on Facebook or Twitter via @themeinav!
