Stop treating writing prompts like homework assignments

I used to sit down with a prompt and force myself to write a full story from start to finish in one go. That burned me out within 3 weeks back in February. Now I just take the prompt and scribble 3 random sentences about it on a sticky note, then leave it on my desk for a day. The next morning I look at those notes and pick one idea to expand for maybe 10 minutes. It changed everything for me because I stopped worrying about making it perfect immediately. Has anyone else tried a totally different method that weirdly worked way better?

3 comments

3 Comments

thomas.river5d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you literally wrote three random sentences on a sticky note and then just... looked at them the next day? That's wild. I've never thought of treating a prompt like a brain splat that I can come back to later.

sanchez.ivan4d ago

Wait, you just scribbled three random sentences and left them overnight? That's wild, I'd lose that sticky note before I even got to breakfast.

kimr914d ago

Ha, @sanchez.ivan you and me both, buddy.