Overheard a guy at the coffee shop say his novel's hook came from a fortune cookie

I was waiting for my order last Tuesday and this dude was telling his friend that he based the whole opening scene of his sci-fi story on a fortune cookie that said something like "You will soon face a difficult choice." He just expanded it into a whole alien invasion plot. It got me thinking... how many small, random things could actually turn into a story prompt if you just looked at them sideways? Has anyone else pulled a prompt from something super ordinary like a receipt or a sign?

2 comments

2 Comments

holly_walker7618d ago

Is that really how ideas work though? Taking a random phrase and forcing it into a story feels lazy, not inspired.

hall.nina18d agoMost Upvoted

Ha! @holly_walker76 pretty soon we'll all be writing novels from fortune cookies and cereal box slogans. Sounds like a real creative shortcut to me.