Went to a writing retreat in Asheville and the prompts there were super weird

I drove down to Asheville last month for a weekend writing retreat with some folks from a local meetup. The place was an old cabin near the Blue Ridge Parkway, super quiet and foggy in the mornings. But the prompts they gave us were nothing like I expected. One was 'write from the perspective of a vending machine that's out of your favorite snack'. Another one was 'describe a funeral for a fictional character you made up as a kid'. I thought it was just for fun but man, it really got me thinking outside my usual box. Has anyone else tried really odd prompts like that and actually gotten something good out of them?

2 comments

2 Comments

tessa_hunt421mo ago

I went to one of those "experimental" workshops in Portland last year and I'll be honest, I walked in rolling my eyes. Thought it was all just trendy nonsense for people who take themselves too seriously. But one prompt was "write a silent argument between two houseplants about the best spot near the window." I almost left. Ended up writing this weird little story about a fern and a pothos fighting over sunbeams and it was the most honest thing I'd written in months. It forced me to stop being so literal and just let words come out without overthinking. I still don't love the prompts themselves but they broke something loose in my head that day.

seanperry1mo ago

oh man that vending machine one hits close to home. i did this weird prompt once where we had to write a love letter from a parking meter to a car that was about to get a ticket. i thought it was the dumbest thing ever but i actually ended up writing like three pages about loneliness and obligation and how we all just want to feel noticed. it was honestly kind of embarrassing how much feeling i put into it. but yeah those kind of prompts they force you to stop being so precious about your writing. you can't worry about it being good when you're a vending machine or a parking meter you know? you just write and see what comes out. i still don't go out of my way to find prompts like that but when they happen they do shake something loose.