I finally figured out why my old prompts felt flat compared to the new ones

Back when I started posting writing prompts on here maybe 4 years ago, I always tried to make them super dramatic and high stakes. Like "a dragon kidnaps the president" type stuff. But nobody ever responded to those. Then about 6 months ago I switched to quieter, more personal prompts. Stuff like "you find a letter your mom wrote but never sent" and suddenly people started actually writing responses. The difference is that dramatic prompts feel like homework, but the small ones feel like a secret someone trusted you with. I had a guy write a 3 page story off a prompt about finding an old key in a drawer. Has anyone else noticed this shift in what works on here?

2 comments

2 Comments

riveradams9d ago

Does @jana119 think those quieter prompts feel more like a shared secret?

jana1199d ago

Used to think dramatic was the only way to go. Big explosions, world ending stuff. Figured that's what people wanted. But you're right. Those small personal prompts hit different. It's like people want to explore real feelings, not save the planet again.