I used to think writing prompts were just for beginners

I was listening to a podcast where a writer I like, she said she uses a random prompt every morning to 'warm up her brain' before her real work. She called it 'mental stretching' (which I liked). It made me realize I was being a snob about it, you know? I tried it for a week with a prompt about a character finding a key in a library book, and it actually helped me get past a block in my main project. Has anyone else had a good experience using prompts for something other than just starting a new story?

3 comments

3 Comments

drew70612d ago

You know my friend who writes those weird little sci-fi stories? He got stuck on a space station scene for WEEKS. Then he did a prompt about a character who could only tell lies on Tuesdays. It was so silly, but he said it totally broke his brain open. He ended up giving his space station AI a weird verbal tic that made the whole chapter work. Sometimes the weirder the prompt, the better it shakes things loose.

sethm5812d ago

My last story had a detective who hated the color beige. Spent three days trying to make that plot relevant before I gave up and just made all the bad guys wear beige suits. It was stupid, but it worked. Your friend is right, the weird rules force you to stop overthinking and just fix the problem in front of you. My best ideas usually come from those pointless little constraints.

shane_morgan12d ago

That's a cool way to force a fix. Drew706's friend's lying Tuesday thing is wild, but honestly those super random prompts just make me freeze up more. I need a little logic to get going.