I keep seeing the same 'what if' prompt and it's getting old

Every other prompt list has a 'what if your pet could talk' or 'what if you woke up with superpowers' idea. It's lazy. I ran a writing group in Toledo for six months, and those prompts always led to the same basic stories. A good prompt should give a specific conflict, like 'a librarian finds a checkout card with a threat written in the due date stamp.' What's a unique prompt you've used that actually pushed you to write something fresh?

3 comments

3 Comments

hollyc921mo ago

Totally get where you're coming from. I read a blog post once that said a strong prompt is like a locked door and the story is finding the key. My favorite one I ever tried was "You are hired to clean up crime scenes, but your latest job is at your own address." That one STUCK with me because it forces a character into a wild, personal problem right away. It's not some vague idea, it's a full situation you have to figure out. Those basic what-ifs never made me feel that urgent need to write.

margaret_gonzalez251mo ago

Three months into my writing group in Toledo, someone pitched "you find a note in a library book that says 'I'm watching you write this'" and three people wrote the exact same ghost story. The "crime scene at your own address" one is solid though because it has stakes built in. I tried "you're a food critic who realizes the restaurant you're reviewing serves people their own memories" and it actually got me to finish a short story for once. Most generic prompts just make me write two paragraphs about a talking cat and give up.

adams.spencer1mo ago

Honestly, that "specific conflict" prompt sounds like homework. Ngl, sometimes the basic "what if" stuff is where the fun starts before you find the real story.