Stumbled into a coffee shop in Philly with a wall of plot generator cards

Was grabbing a cold brew at this place near Rittenhouse and saw they had like 30 different prompt cards pinned up by the register. Each one had a random character, a conflict, and a setting. People were writing stories on napkins and leaving them there. Got me thinking if writing prompts work better in public spaces like that vs just scrolling online. Any of you ever try something like this at a local spot or set up your own prompt station somewhere?

3 comments

3 Comments

parkerbrown1mo ago

Definitely tried this at a coffee shop near me once. Had a jar of prompts on the counter and people wrote tiny stories on receipts. It actually worked way better than I expected, probably because you have to physically write it out and leave it behind, feels more real than just typing a comment online.

milam481mo ago

People actually wrote tiny stories on receipts?

wade8711mo ago

Honestly, I tried this at a local bookstore last month and it was actually cool. Someone wrote a tiny story about a lost cat finding its way home on a receipt and it was honestly touching. Another one was just a few lines about a guy eating a sandwich alone at a diner, which felt super real because that's basically what happened to me last week. The whole thing works because you have to sit there with a pen and actually think for a minute, not just type and hit enter. Definitely worth trying if you've got a quiet spot and some strangers with a few minutes to kill.