Can we talk about my total flip on story prompts?

I used to roll my eyes at them, but one random prompt finally broke my writer's block for good!

3 comments

3 Comments

jake_chen1mo agoTop Commenter

Oh man, that's so true. It's like when I swore I'd never get into quilting after my aunt's craft blog ranted about it. Then one awful rainy weekend, I tried the ugliest fabric pattern as a joke. That terrible quilt got me back into making stuff for the first time in years. Sometimes the thing you hate gives you the finishing kick.

william_ellis291mo ago

You know that part about trying the ugliest pattern as a joke, @jake_chen? That's the real trick. Doing something badly on purpose takes all the pressure off, so you can actually enjoy the mess.

riverl751mo ago

My stubborn streak kept me from trying writing prompts for ages. I saw them as a crutch for people who lacked real ideas. A friend finally dared me to use the most cliche fantasy prompt I could find, just to prove how silly they were. Writing that awful, predictable story was the most fun I'd had in months. It reminded me that making things should be playful, not perfect. Now I keep a list of prompts for when my own ideas feel too heavy.