Text Generators

I finally get to write about my favorite topic: generators. I have a 6.2-kilowatt, 120/240-volt, 60-Hertz generator. Every day, I… Oh, wait. This article is about books, writing, and stuff. Hmm. I should probably dive into that topic.

A text generator combines a basic word database with a random number generator using simple rules. This tool requires significantly less programming than an AI-powered chat box like ChatGPT. The first generator I used was a National Enquirer headline generator. It contained a list of popular names, events, and situations, and combined them into titles. Here is one such site:

Inspiration Pad Online

With this site, I generated the following two headlines:

Mussolini Is Being Maintained Cryogenically for Nefarious Purposes

Incontrovertible Proof That the NSA Tried to Raise an Army of Dinosaurs

I spent hours playing with a National Enquirer headline generator on my Amiga computer in 1989. This included adding to the database and creating new rules.

When I write, I use text generators to invent character names, unusual names, and exotic science-fiction items. How does this work?

Let’s say I want a new character’s name. After developing a basic background, I then click male or female, and the site generates ten names. If one pops (meaning the name matches my mental picture), I use it. If not, I keep clicking until I find one.

How does the name “pop?” Let’s say I want a mean male character. Here are ten generated names:

Laurence Rogers

Phil Fitzgerald

Mario Jensen

Calvin Barker

Joey Diaz

Shane Phelps

Joseph Hodges

Leon Rowe

Marcus Cobb

Russell Hoffman

Hmm. Shane Phelps sounds like a jerk. Perfect for my villain. Of course, you know that a name is a name. The key is to envision the personality that a name evokes. Here is my favorite random name generator:

Namey - A random name generator

I use this site for ethnic and fantasy names:

https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/

A small part of my writing requires inventing some piece of technology that does not exist. Writers call these words technobabble, and here are three generators:

http://www.ds10.org/Database/babble.html

• RanGen | Quick Character Generator
• Technobabble Generator

The Multisynaptic Hyper Infuser is broken. Priceless.

Here are two character-generating sites:

• Seventh Sanctum: Character Generator
• Character Generator

You can even generate an entire planet with graphics and detailed specifications:

SciFi World Generator

While writing this article, I learned about idea generators, and here are three:

• Portent's Content Idea Generator - Instant Blog Topic Inspiration
• Sci-Fi Plot Generator * The Ultimate Bank of 500,000+ Plots
• Random Story Idea Generator

There are also story generators to jog one’s mind into a creative place:

• RanGen | Writing Generators
• Writing Exercises and Prompts
• ServiceScape Writing Prompt Generator | 1,340 Fiction Story Ideas

Here is an old site that has over a hundred generators:

Chaotic Shiny - Writing and RPG-Related Generators

RPG Drinking Game Generator? Political Buzzword? Makes me laugh.

And another site that has many generators with links to other generators:

Seventh Sanctum: the page of generators - random tools for art, gaming, writing, and imagination.

Writing about text generators makes me wonder if somebody is working on a book generator. I searched and couldn’t find one, but what about an article generator? That would mean you could read endless material, and I would be obsolete. I am sure glad those do not exist.

Blog Post Idea Generator - Originality.AI

You’re the best -Bill

July 05, 2025

Hey, book lovers, I published four. Please check them out:

Interviewing Immortality. A dramatic first-person psychological thriller that weaves a tale of intrigue, suspense, and self-confrontation.

Pushed to the Edge of Survival. A drama, romance, and science fiction story about two unlikely people surviving a shipwreck and living with the consequences.

Cable Ties. A slow-burn political thriller that reflects the realities of modern intelligence, law enforcement, department cooperation, and international politics.

Saving Immortality. Continuing in the first-person psychological thriller genre, James Kimble searches for his former captor to answer his life’s questions.

These books are available in softcover on Amazon and in eBook format everywhere.