c/creative-writing-prompts

Was dead wrong about creative writing subreddits for 6 months

I always figured writing prompts were just for beginners or people who didn't want to commit to a real story. Then a guy posted a prompt about a mail carrier who delivers letters from dead people and the 400 word response someone wrote completely changed my mind. Anyone else had a prompt lead to something that stuck with you?

Overheard a guy at the library talk about writing prompts that changed my view

I always thought writing prompts were just for beginners or people who couldn't come up with their own ideas. Then last Tuesday I was at the downtown library and overheard a guy telling his friend he used prompts to break out of a slump he'd been in for 3 years. He said something like 'prompts aren't training wheels, they're just a different road to drive on.' I went home and tried one from a forum, and I wrote 800 words before dinner. Has anyone else had a prompt pull them out of a dry spell?

Got told my dialogue sounded like a bad action movie, completely changed how I write conversations

Saw a guy at the library writing prompts on index cards

I went to the downtown library last Saturday to find some writing inspiration. Spotted an older guy at a corner table with maybe 50 index cards spread out. Each card had one sentence on it like "a key that opens any lock but only at midnight." He said he writes one every day from things he overhears on the bus. Now I'm trying the same thing with a stack of sticky notes. Anybody else use weird methods like that to come up with ideas?

Pro tip: let your plot outline breathe before you start writing

I swear I had this sci-fi short story all mapped out perfectly last Tuesday night. The characters had arcs, the twist was killer, everything lined up. Then I actually sat down to write Thursday and realized my big reveal made zero sense with the setting I'd chosen. Had to scrap the whole first act and rebuild it from scratch. Has anyone else had a plot idea fall apart the second you hit the keyboard?

Hot take: Detailed character sheets kill creativity before page one

I used to spend a week filling out 50-question sheets for every character, but lately I just start writing with one trait and let them grow. Which approach actually leads to better stories in your experience?

Last month I abandoned my whole novel outline halfway through chapter 2

I spent 3 years planning this fantasy trilogy with maps and character charts, but last month while writing a scene about a market in a fictional city, I realized my characters were way more interesting alive than following my plot points. Now I'm just writing with zero plan and seeing where they go, which feels wild but also way more fun. Has anyone else dumped a detailed outline and just let the story breathe?

Just realized I spent $200 on a prompt generator app that writes worse than my 5th draft

I bought this 'AI Muse' app back in January, thinking it would save me time on writing prompts for my fantasy series. Cost me $200 for the yearly subscription. At first it was fine, gave me some decent ideas for dungeon descriptions and character flaws. But after three months, I noticed every prompt it generated was basically the same structure with different nouns swapped in. Like 'A [lonely] [warrior] discovers a [cursed] [artifact] in [ancient] [ruins]'. I mean it's not even trying to be creative. Meanwhile my writing group on Discord throws out better prompts for free during our Tuesday night sessions. So here's my debate: Are paid prompt tools ever worth it, or is the real value just in bouncing ideas off other people? Has anyone else thrown cash at a writing tool that totally let you down? I'm curious if I just picked a bad one or if this is a general trap for writers.

Heard a poet say "prompts are training wheels" at open mic last week

I was at this open mic in Portland on Thursday and this older guy said writing prompts are just training wheels for real writers. It got me thinking cause I use prompts all the time to start stories and they help me get unstuck. Do most of you see prompts as a crutch or a legit tool for getting ideas flowing?

Almost lost my whole novel draft to a free writing app glitch

I spent 6 months writing a 300 page fantasy novel in a free app called Yarny and it crashed last week, deleting everything after chapter 2. A $15 backup service called AutoSave Pro saved my work because I had synced it the night before. Has anyone else had a close call like this with a writing tool?

TIL I was structuring my story outlines completely backwards for 5 years

I always started with the climax and worked backwards from there because I thought it helped me keep the ending in sight. But last month during a writing group critique in Austin, someone pointed out my middle chapters all felt like filler because I already resolved the tension too early. Now I'm wondering if starting with the hook and building tension naturally from there is actually the better approach for most genres. Has anyone else had that moment where they realized their whole outlining method was off?

Found a 15-year-old prompt in a thrift store notebook

I was digging through a bin at the Salvation Army in downtown Portland last weekend and found a spiral notebook full of old writing prompts from 2009. One of them said 'write a story about the last payphone in your city' which felt way more interesting now than it probably did back then. Has anyone else found old writing ideas in weird places like used books or garage sales?

This one Tuesday last month I actually finished a scene I'd been stuck on for almost 6 weeks

I've been tinkering with this fantasy short story since February and the middle section was just dead weight. Every time I sat down I'd rewrite the same three paragraphs and then close the document. Then last Tuesday I forced myself to just write garbage for 15 minutes with no editing. I typed out this clunky scene where my main character gets lost in a foggy market and accidentally buys a cursed apple from a vendor who doesn't speak her language. It was messy but suddenly the whole story had a direction again. I ended up finishing a full 2,000 word draft by Thursday night. Has anyone else had that moment where breaking your own rules about quality actually unlocked something?

I used to plan every single plot point before writing a word

Back in 2018 I was the queen of outlines. I would spend weeks mapping out every chapter beat, character arc, and plot twist before typing a single sentence. Then I realized my stories felt stiff and lifeless, like I was just checking boxes instead of letting things happen naturally. Now I start with a vague idea like 'two strangers get stuck in an elevator' and just write whatever comes out. The weirdest part is that my endings turned out way more surprising when I didn't plan them ahead of time. I think I was trying too hard to control everything because I was scared of writing myself into a corner. Has anyone else ditched the outline and seen their writing actually improve?

Had a writing prompt about time loops blow up in my face last month

I spent 3 hours crafting this really intricate time loop prompt for our group chat, posted it at 11pm after my night shift, and then realized at 3am that I had accidentally written the same character dying in the exact same paragraph three times in a row - has anyone else had their own writing completely betray them like that?

Had a writing group member say my dialogue felt like two robots talking at each other...

Her exact words were 'people don't answer questions they just deflect or go off on tangents' so now I write every conversation with at least one interruption or non-answer per exchange, has anyone else gotten a critique that completely rewired their process?

Every prompt I see starts with a character waking up and I'm losing it

I've been browsing this sub for about three months now and I swear half the prompts begin with someone opening their eyes to a weird ceiling or checking their phone. Why is that the go-to? It feels like everybody took the same writing class where a teacher said 'start in the middle of action' and nobody understood what that meant. Has anyone else noticed this trend or am I just unlucky with the prompts I click?

Stumbled into a writing workshop in a tiny bookstore in Vermont last fall

The prompt was just a single word - 'rust' - and I watched ten strangers turn it into ten completely different stories. Has anyone else found a weird prompt that somehow unlocked your best writing?

My buddy the librarian called out my fantasy novel for being too generic

I was bragging about my cool elf kingdom and she just said 'you know elves have been done a thousand times right'. She handed me a book about a sentient library that eats bad stories and now I'm rethinking my whole outline. Has anyone else had a throwaway comment totally derail their writing plan?

Tried the "show don't tell" approach against the "just write" method for a month straight

I spent 30 days forcing myself to only show emotions through actions and descriptions in my short stories, then switched to just writing whatever came to mind. The showing approach made my stories feel stiff and I kept second-guessing every line, while the just write method got me 3 finished pieces in one week. Has anyone else found that one writing rule they swore by actually made things worse for them?

Warning: That $150 creative writing workshop I paid for was a total waste

I signed up for an online workshop last month run by some author with a big following. Paid $150 for a 4 week course. We got a few generic prompts and her reading our first 500 words. No real feedback on structure or plot. I got more out of a free YouTube video. Has anyone else had luck with cheaper or free alternatives for writing workshops?

TIL that writing prompts with random restrictions actually spark way better ideas for me

I used to think limiting yourself in writing was the dumbest thing ever lol. Like why box yourself in when the whole point is to be creative right? Then last week I tried a prompt that said "write a scene using only one syllable words" and I was shocked at how hard but fun it was. I ended up with a 300 word flash story about a guy stuck in an elevator that actually had some punch to it. I've been trying out other weird rules like "no adjectives" or "every sentence has to start with a letter from your name" and it's weirdly helpful. Has anyone else found that random constraints actually make your writing better or am I just losing it?

Rant: stop using the word 'suddenly' in every single action scene

I read through about 30 writing prompts here last month and almost every fantasy one had 'suddenly' popping up 3 or 4 times. It gets old fast, like the writer is trying to fake tension. I only really noticed it because I used to do the same thing in my own stories until a beta reader pointed it out. Has anyone else started cutting that word from their drafts on purpose?

Debate: Does a ruined first draft mean you should ditch the whole story?

I was 30 pages into a mystery novel set in Portland when my main character's motive completely fell apart. It happened last Thursday after I reread chapter 5 and realized the timeline didn't make any sense. I spent 2 hours trying to patch it with notes but ended up scrapping the whole first act. Do you guys usually push through a broken story or start fresh from scratch?

Spent 3 hours at a diner in Detroit and overheard the best dialogue

I was sitting at a booth at the Old Miami last Saturday, just nursing a cup of coffee and people watching. Two old guys at the counter were talking about a poker game from 1987 like it happened yesterday. One guy said "you folded queens on the river, Frank, and I still don't forgive you for it." The way they talked, the pauses, the hand gestures - it was better than half the scenes I've tried to write. I pulled out my notepad and scribbled down as much as I could without being obvious. Anyone else find better material from eavesdropping than from prompts online?