Summertime Writing: Innovation In Stories

This exercise comes from an innovation management technique.

I want to take the basic idea of the story Frankenstein and experiment with story innovation using one specific innovation technique of random word association.

1. State the original idea, problem, or question (source).

For this case, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Synopsis found at Wikipedia. I cut together pieces of the larger synopsis.

tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a hideous, sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment...the Creature tall, about 8 feet (2.4 m) in height and proportionally large. Despite Victor's selecting its features as beautiful, upon animation the creature is instead hideous, with watery white eyes and yellow skin that barely conceals the muscles and blood vessels underneath. Repulsed by his work, Victor flees when it awakens. While wandering the streets, he meets his childhood friend, Henry Clerval, and takes Henry back to his apartment, fearful of Henry's reaction if he sees the monster. However, the Creature has escaped.

Intelligent and articulate, the Creature relates his first days of life, living alone in the wilderness and finding that people were afraid of and hated him due to his appearance, which led him to fear and hide from them. While living in an abandoned structure connected to a cottage, he grew fond of the poor family living there, and discreetly collected firewood for them. Secretly living among the family for months, the Creature learned to speak by listening to them and he taught himself to read after discovering a lost satchel of books in the woods. When he saw his reflection in a pool, he realized his physical appearance was hideous, and it terrified him as it terrifies normal humans. Nevertheless, he approached the family in hopes of becoming their friend. Initially he was able to befriend the blind father figure of the family, but the rest of them were frightened and they all fled their home, resulting in the Creature leaving, disappointed. He traveled to Victor's family estate using details from Victor's journal, murdered William, and framed Justine.

The Creature demands that Victor create a female companion like himself. He argues that as a living being, he has a right to happiness. The Creature promises that he and his mate will vanish into the South American wilderness, never to reappear, if Victor grants his request. Should Victor refuse his request, The Creature also threatens to kill Victor's remaining friends and loved ones and not stop until he completely ruins him.

Fearing for his family, Victor reluctantly agrees. The Creature says he will watch over Victor's progress. 

2. Generate 5 to 6 random words (stimuli).

Protuberation
Lantanuric
Censer
Mean
Depolarization

Body

Protuberation - The act of swelling beyond the surrounding surface.

Lantanuric - Pertaining to, or designating, a nitrogenous organic acid of the uric acid group, obtained by the decomposition of allantoin, and usually called {allanturic acid}. Related to urine naturally. Used in lotion, toothpaste, and mouthwash.

Censer - A vessel for perfumes; esp. one in which incense is burned.
Mean - That which is mean, or intermediate, between two extremes of place, time, or number; the middle point or place; middle rate or degree; mediocrity; medium; absence of extremes or excess; moderation; measure.
Depolarization - The act of depriving of polarity, or the result of such action; reduction to an unpolarized condition.
Body - The material organized substance of an animal, whether living or dead, as distinguished from the spirit, or vital principle; the physical person.

3. Create association connections to each word.

Protuberation - The creature may have some sort of growth or swelling on his body.
Lantanuric - Maybe the creature smells like urine or is trying to cover stench or something with beauty products.
Censer - This could be holding perfume to cover the stench of the monster.
Mean - Between two extremes might mean between creature and human or between wild and tame.
Depolarization - Reducing a unipolar condition maybe rage and wild fury.
Body - The creature has a body created by Dr. Frankenstein.

4. Increase your associations

A. Contiguity - nearness or contact.

Protuberation - swelling, tumor, jutting, fangs, tusk, bulge, belly, muscles, chest, breasts, bump

Lantanuric - urine, lotion, waste, break down, metabolize, 

Censer - perfume, incense, freshener, scent, stench

Mean - extremes, middle, balance, reduce

Depolarization - more than one way, two or more opposing forces

Body - form, shape, condition, created, sum of parts

B. Similarity - reminds you of
Protuberation - Inflated, balloon, mountain rock, bubble, muscle, fat, veins
Lantanuric - sweat
Censer - summoning, magic, cemetery, tomb, wake
Mean - average, beyond average, bell curve, probability
Depolarization - opposites, alternatives, paths, flexibility, chaos, change
Body - creature, animal, plant, life, element, water, sea, river

C. Contrast - opposition
Protuberation - sinking, deflating, reducing
Lantanuric - undigested, not broken down, not flushed out
Censer - crud, sickening, vile
Mean - extreme, severe, one-sided, unbalanced, chaotic
Depolarization - polarization, one-sided, one direction
Body - shadow, appearance, illusion, unlife

5. Make more connections automatically

The instructions say that now, after doing this exercise, connections will start to happen automatically. I will see if some further ideas start to appear after a period of time.

Analysis of Innovation technique #1

That was somewhat strange, especially lantanuric. I would have never picked that word. I didn't even know that word. Out of the other words, body and protuberance might be the more obvious words. Censer, mean, and depolarization might be somewhat close, though not as obvious—being more secondarily related words.

I don't know if anything will come of this exercise. I will see. I'll look back at this in a few days and see if I like this technique. I want to try a few more innovation and creativity techniques though between now and then. Maybe I'll compare the techniques in a future post.