Invention Name Generator
One-line premises: a person, something that happens to them, and a complication. Draw as many Invention ideas as you need, keep the ones you like and press Generate again for a fresh set.
How to use this tool
- 1Set how many Invention ideas you want.
- 2Add a starting letter if you have one in mind, or leave it blank.
- 3Press Generate.
- 4Copy a single result, or copy the whole list at once.
12 Invention ideas
- A border-town translator inherits a house nobody will talk about and the truth would ruin someone they love.
- A decommissioned soldier loses the only proof they were ever there, and the deadline is not negotiable.
- A ferry captain is followed home by a child who will not speak, but nobody else can see the problem.
- A struggling magician inherits a house nobody will talk about, before the storm closes the road.
- A museum night guard is followed home by a child who will not speak, and has three days to fix it.
- An unemployed actor loses the only proof they were ever there, with a stranger who knows too much.
- A border-town translator is followed home by a child who will not speak, and going to the police is not an option.
- A small-town nurse loses the only proof they were ever there, and has three days to fix it.
- A rural vet wakes with a memory that is not theirs, and has three days to fix it.
- A border-town translator is asked to deliver a package and not to open it, but nobody else can see the problem.
- A rural vet discovers the town has been lying for forty years and the deadline is not negotiable.
- A teenage chess prodigy agrees to one last favour with a stranger who knows too much.
What to do with a premise
Do not take it literally. The point of a prompt is to get the first sentence written, and the first sentence is usually the only difficult one. Change whatever you like as soon as the writing starts.
Why three parts
A character, an event and a complication is the smallest unit that makes a story want to continue. A premise missing the complication reads as a situation, and situations do not go anywhere on their own.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use these Invention ideas in something I sell?
Yes. Everything here is assembled from ordinary words and invented syllables, so a result belongs to whoever uses it first. Do search the one you pick before you print it on anything — free to use is not the same as unused.
Why do I get the same list when I come back?
The draw is seeded, so one seed always produces one list. That is deliberate: you can bookmark a result or read it out to somebody and still find it later. Press Generate for a new seed and a completely different set.
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