Showerthought: My writing prompts went from dead ends to story starters after I stopped forcing conflict

Used to start every prompt with some big argument or disaster, like two characters fighting over a parking spot. Felt super forced and nobody ever replied to them. Then last month in Austin I tried a prompt about someone finding a perfect spot in the sun at a coffee shop and the whole thread blew up with 40 responses. Now I just write prompts around small, real moments instead of drama. Has anyone else noticed that gentle prompts get way more traction than high stakes ones?

2 comments

2 Comments

patricia_singh8110d ago

Switched my prompts from "two spies betrayed each other" to "someone trying to return a shirt without a receipt" and got more replies in one day than the whole spy story got in a month. People really latch onto those small, relatable struggles. The coffee shop sun spot prompt sounds lovely, might steal that idea for my next one. Small moments just feel more human, you know?

verac4010d ago

Oh great, so now I gotta go write about my dog eating my credit card bill instead of my epic fantasy novel. Might as well just start posting my grocery lists at this point.