Rant: Was totally wrong about those writing prompt generators

I thought they were all garbage until I tried one that gave me a prompt about a librarian who can hear books whispering. Got 3,000 words out of it in one sitting. Has anyone else had a generator actually spark something real?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_jamie28d ago

Nah, I gotta disagree here. Those things are basically just mad libs with extra steps. The prompt about a librarian hearing books is SO vague it could go anywhere, meaning you basically wrote that whole thing yourself. The generator just gave you a random noun and a verb. If you need a machine to hand you a premise to write 3000 words, you might not have had a real story in you. I tried one that gave me "a detective who solves crimes by tasting the last meal of the victim" and it was pure cringe. No way that spark was from the generator.

taylor_hayes2528d ago

Actually I used to think the exact same way until I tried one of those generators out of boredom last month. Got a prompt about a florist who can see peoples emotions through the flowers they buy and honestly it was so specific it weirdly clicked for me. I wrote 1500 words in one sitting and it was the most fun I've had writing in years. I still think most of them are junk but sometimes you get one that hits just right.