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c/creative-writing-prompts

20

williamm82•1h ago

Spent 6 hours rewriting a single scene and still cut it

I was working on a fantasy story where my main character discovers a hidden door in a library. The first version felt too rushed, so I rewrote it slowly over 3 hours. Then I realized the dialogue was all wrong, so I scrapped that and started fresh. Another 3 hours later I just deleted the whole scene and moved on. Has anyone else spent way too long on one part of a prompt story?

19

blair597•18h ago

Bought a $50 course on writing dialogue. Complete waste.

Saw this ad for a writing prompt masterclass. Said it would fix my dialogue problems. Paid $50 on impulse. The whole thing was just generic advice like show don't tell. Nothing about actual prompts or exercises. Anyone find a free resource that actually helps with writing conversations?

3

the_derek•1d ago

DAE notice writing prompts about 'a stranger leaves you a mysterious note' always miss the most obvious detail?

I've been reading prompts for a few months now and it's wild how many posts skip the simple stuff. Like, if I find a note on my windshield at a Target in downtown Austin, why would I assume it's for me and not just litter? Who actually picks up random paper and thinks it's fate? Am I the only one bugged by this?

9

alex307•1d ago

Used to hate writing prompts about time travel, but one changed my mind

I always rolled my eyes at time travel prompts because they felt too easy and predictable. Then I saw a prompt on r/WritingPrompts about a time traveler who can only go forward at 1 second per second, meaning they just experience life normally. That twist made me realize the genre can be fresh if you force limitations on the character. Anyone else find a specific prompt that flipped your opinion on a trope you normally avoid?

7

angela687•2d ago

Had a talk with my English teacher about why she hates the three-act structure

She said it forces every story into a mold that kills the organic flow of real human experience, and after thinking about her argument for three days I'm starting to wonder if my writing has been too safe.

12

davis.adam•2d ago

Stumbled on a 20 year old notebook from a creative writing class I took in college

Last month I was cleaning out my garage and found this old spiral notebook from a creative writing elective I took back in 2004 at community college. First few pages were full of prompts the teacher gave us like 'write a scene where the main character loses something important' and 'describe a room using only smells and sounds.' I spent the whole weekend reading through my terrible stories about aliens and breakup poems. It got me thinking about how those basic prompts shaped the way I still look at stuff today. Has anyone else dug up old writing assignments and felt like you were talking to a totally different person?

7

sarah_mason•2d ago

I finally stopped writing for the "perfect" first sentence

My critique group leader told me to just vomit words on the page and fix it later. For years I thought she was wrong. I spent hours on opening lines and got nowhere. Then NanoWriMo last November I had no choice. Wrote 50k words of pure garbage. But guess what? Three of those garbage scenes turned into the best stuff I've ever written after I went back and cleaned them up. Has anyone else had a writing rule they ignored for ages that turned out to be right?

5

riley_miller25•4d ago

Decided those $40 'writer's dice' were worth it after all

I was super skeptical when I saw these things on Etsy for like 40 bucks. I mean, rolling dice to come up with story ideas felt like some kind of gimmick. But I was stuck on a scene for a fantasy prompt about a cursed library, just completely blank for two hours. Finally caved and bought a set with character traits, plot twists, and setting details on them. Rolled once and got 'a jealous sibling' plus 'a hidden door that opens at midnight' and suddenly the whole scene clicked. It saved my writing night, no joke. Now I use them whenever I hit a wall, but I still feel kinda silly admitting it. Anybody else find luck with weird tools like this or am I just late to the party?

1

the_emma•4d ago

Lost $150 on a writing prompt generator that was just a scam

I bought this fancy AI prompt generator for $150 thinking it'd give me endless unique story ideas, but all it did was spit out the same generic prompts like 'write about a haunted house' over and over. The refund policy was a joke and the customer service ghosted me after three emails. Has anyone actually found a paid tool for creative prompts that's worth the money?

22

scott.jana•4d ago

Appreciation post: the little free library in downtown Portland

I walked past this one little free library on 12th and Morrison about 6 times before I actually stopped to look inside. It was painted bright red with a tiny roof, almost like a dollhouse. There was a worn copy of "The Martian" sitting there with a sticky note on it that said "this book got me through a bad breakup." That little detail made me want to use it as a prompt for a story about strangers leaving their emotions in books. Has anyone else found a physical place that sparked a whole writing idea for you?

29

lucasw82•6d ago

The writing prompt that came from a coffee shop in Portland

I was sitting at Stumptown on Division last year and overheard a barista say 'my ex left a toothbrush here three months ago.' That one line turned into a whole story about a guy finding clues about his partner through things they left behind. Where do you all find your best prompts?

21

the_brian•7d ago

That scene where a character just sits down and eats a meal kept me stuck for 3 days

I was writing a mystery novel and had this detective character stop for lunch at a diner. I spent 3 whole days trying to figure out how to make it not boring. Every draft sounded like a grocery list or a commercial for the food. Finally I realized the scene worked when I focused on her noticing someone else in the booth instead of the sandwich itself. Has anyone else had a basic scene like eating or walking just completely derail their writing flow?

8

finley_price24•8d ago

Critique that made me stop telling instead of showing in my fantasy novel

A beta reader told me my fight scene was just 'he swung, she blocked' over and over. She said I described the sweat on his hands and the creak of the leather grip, not just the moves. Now I write every scene through what the character feels, hears, and smells - has anyone else had a reader nail their biggest flaw like that?

9

jordan903•8d ago

Was against paying for writing software until I tried Scrivener for a NaNoWriMo project

I spent $59 on Scrivener back in November after failing to finish a novel outline in Google Docs for the third time. The corkboard feature alone saved me about 10 hours of reorganizing scenes. Has anyone else found a tool that clicked after you swore you'd never spend money on it?

16

sam_thomas•10d ago

Warning: that writing prompt about the perfect murder almost got me in real trouble

I was at a bar in Birmingham last Friday, talking to a buddy about a prompt where someone plans a robbery, and I got carried away describing the details. A guy two stools down overheard me and called the cops thinking I was serious. How do you keep your story ideas from sounding too real in public?

29

karen_roberts4•16d ago

Grabbed a random writing prompt instead of my usual fantasy trope

I always pick the same kind of prompts - knights, dragons, epic quests. Last Tuesday I forced myself to try a slice-of-life one about a guy who fixes old typewriters. Ended up writing 3 pages about his customer, an 80-year-old woman who wanted her 1950s machine fixed so she could type letters to her grandkids. Way more fun than I expected. Has anyone else surprised themselves by picking a totally different prompt style?

27

the_eva•21d ago

My beta reader told me to cut every adjective from my first page

I had 14 adjectives in paragraph one alone - after removing them, my opening scene actually MOVES now and readers said it felt way more urgent. Has anyone else tried a zero-adjective pass on their work and seen big results?

8

finleym43•22d ago

That guy at the bus stop who gave me a plot twist idea

Last Thursday I was waiting for the 27 bus on Main Street and this older dude starts telling me about how he quit his corporate job to raise snails for escargot. He said 'people think snails are slow, but they taught me how to speed up my life.' That random conversation gave me a whole story concept about a character who learns patience from the weirdest source. Has anyone else pulled a full story idea from a stranger's random life story?

10

morgan_bailey93•23d ago

Just got back from a writer's retreat in Taos and noticed a weird pattern

I spent last weekend at a small cabin rental outside Taos for a group writing thing, and everyone kept trying to pitch these huge fantasy epics with like 10 character arcs. But the prompts we were using were simple street-level stuff, like 'write about a lost key.' Has anyone else noticed people overcomplicating their responses to basic prompts? I feel like half the magic gets buried under worldbuilding.

11

kim.zara•24d ago

I used to plan every scene before writing a word. Now I just start with a single image and let it roll.

Switched after a 3 month dry spell where I kept mapping out plots that went nowhere. Has anyone else ditched their outlines and gotten better results?

16

the_linda•24d ago

Appreciation post: That prompt exercise that took 12 hours to finish

I joined a flash fiction challenge in the "Blue Lake Writers" group and the prompt was just one weird sentence about a talking squirrel. I figured I'd knock it out in an hour, but I ended up rewriting the whole thing four times because the dialogue felt flat. It took me from 8 PM until 8 AM the next morning, and I still only hit 800 words. Has anyone else spent way too long on a single prompt before?

16

alex307•25d ago

That high school teacher who said my fantasy setting was too weird ended up being right

Back in my senior year, my English teacher Mrs. Patterson told me my fantasy world had too many random elements crammed in. I had six different magic systems, three warring races that didn't connect, and a prophecy involving a cheese wheel. I was mad at the time because I thought she just didn't get it. But looking back at that story now, it was a mess and she gave me good advice about keeping things simple. Has anyone else had a beta reader or teacher give feedback that seemed wrong but turned out to fix your whole plot?

8

lopez.jana•26d ago

Vent: That 'show don't tell' rule I kept ignoring backfired hard

Honestly, I spent 6 months writing a fantasy novel where I just told everyone how sad the main character was. My critique group finally sat me down after the third chapter and read a few lines out loud, and I realized my writing was dead on the page. Has anyone else had a basic rule they thought was overhyped totally wreck their story when they finally tried it?

13

joseph_ellis85•26d ago

Wasted $45 on a "plot twist generator" ebook for writers

I bought this ebook that claimed to have 100 plot twist ideas for fantasy writers. It was basically just random sentence fragments like "the hero betrays..." with no follow through or actual structure. I got through maybe 10 of them before I realized I paid for something I could have made up myself in an hour. Has anyone else fallen for a writing tool or guide that was way overhyped and gave nothing useful?

2

rodriguez.felix•27d ago

Found an old journal at a thrift store in Toledo last weekend

I was browsing the bookshelf at a small thrift shop and pulled out a spiral notebook from 1987. Inside were about 30 pages of short story ideas and character sketches from someone named Diane. Has anyone else stumbled across a stranger's writing in the wild and felt like you got a peek into their life?