Writing exercise : Create 10 swords descriptions for a Role-Playing Game.
(Time limit : 30 minutes)
| Broad sword | Reliable, durable and easy to manipulate, the broad sword is a classic weapon for adventurers. | |
| Golden blade | An expensive scimitar made of pure gold. The golden blade can somehow increase gold drop rate when defeating enemies. | |
| Numeri-slash 1.0 | First version of the Numeri-slash, a brand of lightsabers. It lacks the latest updates, but has a nice retro look. | |
| Roller-blades | Wielded with feet, the Roller-blades can be attached to any shoes, leaving the hands free for other weapons. | |
| Sea Cutlass | Appreciated by pirates, the Sea Cutlass’ intimidating design strikes fear across the seven seas. | |
| The Extender | The Extender is made of sharp shards attached on a rope and works like a whip, granting good reach. | |
| Rolling Cutter | With its circular shape, the Rolling Cutter is the perfect tool to cut standing objects. Not recommended for fights ! | |
| Chakram | These elegant rings can be thrown wherever, slashing everything in their path. The chakrams will always come back to their user. | |
| Stiletto | Unable to cut through objects, the Stiletto can be used for poking with precision instead. | |
| Hair-Cut | Worn as a hair accessory, the Hair-Cut hides a small knife within the clip. Cute and deadly. |
Dealing with the Deadline
Now talk about a stressful exercise ! With 30 minutes to create 10 descriptions for different weapons, I had roughly 3 minutes per weapon for designing and describing in a different way each time. I am still amazed that I managed to pull it off !
I came accross this exercise on Twitter and took the challenge for myself with no preparations. Unfortunately, the tweet itself has been deleted, but it provided tips that helped me greatly, and constraints that I had to be careful about :
- 20 words for each description, including the weapon’s name
- Cannot repeat/reuse descriptions
- Descriptions cannot start with the same word
- 30 min time limit
- Get some feedback from other people when it’s finished
- Hopefully – learn something
With all this in mind, I tried to vary the style of descriptions to create this neat weapon stash of wacky swords. Alternating between technicality and lore has been a fun experiment.
From the feedback I received, the Hair-Cut has been a fan favorite, which is funny to think about considering I threw this idea in panic as I was running low on time ! My personal favorite is the Numeri-slash 1.0 as I love futuristic stuff. Which weapon is your favorite ?
Also, I got pointed out that Stiletto also refers to a type of high-heel shoes, which led to some funny interpretations of the weapon. Always do your research !