I always wrote my prompts as a single sentence until a workshop leader in Portland said 'give it three layers'

I tried it for a fantasy heist idea, adding a character secret, a ticking clock, and a magical twist, and the story basically wrote itself. Has anyone else found a simple rule that completely changed how you build a premise?

3 comments

3 Comments

lopez.simon9h ago

That three-layer trick is basically a story engine. It forces you to add conflict and stakes right from the start. My version is asking "what's the worst that could happen" and then making that the first chapter.

lindaowens5h ago

But what if you want a slow burn story? Starting with the worst thing can feel cheap and leave you nowhere to go, @lopez.simon. Sometimes the real tension is in the quiet dread before the fall, not just the crash itself.

adamgreen9h ago

My old writing teacher called it the "what if" and "so what" rule. It forces you to add the consequence.