I finally gave up on the 'write what you know' rule for prompts

For years I told people in my local writing group in Springfield to stick to that advice, but then I ran a prompt about a deep-sea welder fixing a city on the ocean floor. The best story came from a retired teacher who'd never even seen the ocean, but she nailed the feeling of pressure and isolation perfectly. It made me see that a good prompt should push you to imagine, not just remember. Has anyone else found a writing rule they used to swear by that just fell apart?

2 comments

2 Comments

grace9264d ago

That "show, don't tell" rule gets treated like gospel. I used to follow it so strictly my drafts were just endless descriptions of people sighing and looking out windows. Sometimes a character just needs to say they're sad so the story can move on.

morgan.cameron3d ago

Totally agree! I had a scene where a guy was just making coffee for three pages to "show" he was stressed. His hands shook, he spilled grounds, the kettle whistled... just have him yell "I'm stressed!" and get on with the car chase! The rule is a tool, not a law.