Pro tip: don't ignore that weird feeling you get from a writing prompt

Last Tuesday, I jotted down a prompt about a character finding a key that unlocks memories, and for the next three days I kept dreaming about my own childhood home in vivid, unsettling detail, which completely stalled my actual project. Has a prompt ever gotten under your skin like that?

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3 Comments

caleb_ross126mo ago

Is it really the prompt's fault though? Sometimes our brains just latch onto random stuff when we're stressed about a project.

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miam756mo ago

Yeah the "brains latch onto random stuff" thing is so real. I see it happen all the time with people getting stuck on tiny details when the big picture is fine.

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the_cameron6mo ago

Honestly had this happen last week. I just put the whole section in a new doc and rewrote it fresh. Forced my brain to stop obsessing over the old words.

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