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My writing group's prompt jar went from boring to bonkers in a month
We used to get stuff like 'write about a rainy day' or 'describe a sunset', which was fine but kind of dull. Then someone brought in a bag of random thrift store items and said we had to use one as a prompt. The first week, I got a single, mismatched oven mitt with a cat's face on it. Last week, my prompt was a receipt for 12 pounds of gummy bears from a gas station in Tempe, dated 1998. The jar is now full of weird physical objects and found paper, and the stories are way more fun and unexpected. Has anyone else tried using totally random physical stuff instead of written prompts?
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butler.shane4mo ago
Have you noticed how the best stories always come from the most random, broken pieces of life? Like that gummy bear receipt isn't just a receipt, it is a whole mystery about who bought that much candy and why. Our brains are wired to connect dots even when there isn't a clear picture, which is probably why we end up with richer stories from a weird object than a simple prompt. It is the same reason why a cracked coffee mug in a thrift store feels more interesting than a perfect new one from the store.
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