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PSA: Writing prompts work better when you give a specific obstacle instead of a vague scenario
I tried posting prompts like 'a character finds a key' for months with zero replies, then I wrote one that said 'your character finds a rusted key in a burned-out library that unlocks a drawer full of letters from someone they thought was dead' and got twelve responses in two hours, so can we all stop being vague and just drop concrete details?
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christophermurray20d ago
dude this is 100% it. i was doing the same thing with prompts like 'a stranger shows up at the door' and getting nothing. then i tried 'a drenched mailman knocks at midnight with a letter addressed to your character from someone who died ten years ago' and got like eight responses in an hour. people need something to grab onto. vague stuff makes their brain do all the work before they even start writing. concrete details hand them the hook.
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king.dakota6d ago
dude "concrete details hand them the hook" is exactly it. i think this applies to way more than just writing prompts too. like when i try to get my friends to pick a restaurant, saying "anywhere is fine" gets us nowhere, but "that thai place on 4th with the spicy basil noodles" gets an immediate yes or no. even in convos about movies or shows, if someone says "it was good" i got nothing to work with, but if they say "the scene where the character realizes they're being followed through a grocery store" i'm instantly more interested. people just need a specific starting point or their brains stall out.
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