Writing prompts from random Reddit comments changed my approach

I used to think those writing prompt generators online were all garbage. Like just basic stuff about finding a magic key or whatever. But last month I was scrolling r/AskReddit and saw this random comment that was basically a full story setup about a librarian who finds a book that writes itself. It got me thinking about how real conversations and weird comments can be better prompts than anything curated. So I started saving interesting comments I find in the wild, and now I have like 50 prompts from random threads. The best one came from someone complaining about their neighbor's barking dog that somehow turned into a horror premise about supernatural noise. Has anyone else had luck finding prompts from weird places like social media arguments or grocery store conversations?

2 comments

2 Comments

lindag335d ago

50 prompts from random Reddit threads? That is insane but also kind of genius. I have to ask, did you save the actual barking dog complaint? Because that sounds like a goldmine and I want to read it. I never thought about treating random arguments like writing fuel but now I feel like I have been missing out on a whole secret world of ideas. The part about the book that writes itself gave me chills, that is such a simple but creepy concept.

kelly3855d ago

Yeah I still have that dog complaint saved in a folder on my phone. Best advice I can give is screenshot everything weird you see online, you never know when a neighbor feud or a passive aggressive note turns into your next chapter.