Was scrolling creative writing prompts and noticed a pattern

I stopped by a local coffee shop in Portland last Tuesday and started browsing through writing prompts on my phone. There were so many fantasy ones about dragons and kingdoms, but almost nothing set in a regular post office or a suburban neighborhood. It made me wonder if we're missing out on good stories from everyday places. Has anyone else noticed a lack of prompts based on ordinary work settings?

3 comments

3 Comments

blair_taylor324d ago

Man, you're onto something real. I started writing little scenes based on the boring stuff I saw in my own apartment complex lobby and it turned into my best stuff, just from watching people fight over the mail or their dogs having a weird stare down.

the_linda7d ago

Totally agree with you. I've been noticing this same thing in other creative spaces too, like in Instagram photography or even short film festivals - everyone wants to film or write about some dramatic, exotic setting. But I swear some of the most interesting stories I've heard came from my buddy who works at a tire shop, watching people come in with their weird car problems and listening to their excuses. Like last week he told me about a guy who brought in a car with a flat tire and tried to blame it on a UFO landing in his driveway (which, come on, that's a goldmine of a prompt). We're surrounded by this stuff every day, we just don't stop to see the story in it.

michael6697d ago

Practice writing prompts from overheard conversations in line at the grocery store. @the_linda would probably back me on this one.