I bought a $75 'idea generator' app that just gave me the same three prompts

It was called Brainstorm Buddy, and after the first week, every single 'random' story starter was just a variation on 'a detective finds a sock', 'someone wakes up as a potato', or 'a key opens the wrong door'. I felt pretty silly for not just scrolling through the free prompt threads here. Has anyone else had a program or book that promised endless ideas but totally ran out of steam?

3 comments

3 Comments

elliot_johnson3mo ago

I just started people-watching at the mall, honestly.

dylanh972mo ago

Hearing that Brainstorm Buddy just recycled the same three prompts makes my jaw drop. @the_john, I can't believe you got stuck with a writing book that promised 500 conflicts and delivered half as "a stranger arrives in town" that is a special kind of lazy. People-watching at the mall sounds way more useful than paying for an app that clearly had zero effort put into it. A real brainstorm tool should adapt and generate new ideas, not just shuffle the same tired concepts around like a broken slot machine. I would have asked for a refund the second I saw "detective finds a sock" pop up for the tenth time. How did you not throw your phone across the room after that first week?

the_john3mo ago

Oof, that "Brainstorm Buddy" sounds like a total scam. Paying that much just to get stuck in a loop of detective socks and sentient potatoes is brutal. I had a writing book that did the same thing, swore it had 500 unique conflicts and half were just "a stranger arrives in town." It really does make you appreciate the free stuff out there.