I had to choose between a complex prompt and a simple one for my class

I picked the simple one, 'You find a key in your pocket you don't recognize,' and the kids wrote way more than when I gave them a whole fantasy world to build. It was just one concrete detail they could grab onto. Anyone have a go-to simple prompt that always gets people writing?

4 comments

4 Comments

the_thomas4mo ago

Oh man, my buddy had a similar thing happen. He gave his group "The coffee was cold" and they filled pages, but a big sci-fi idea got nothing. Sometimes the small stuff just opens a door.

joseph_murray82mo ago

Did he say why the big idea flopped though?

zara4472mo ago

Ugh yeah I hate when stuff like that happens. @the_thomas is totally right about small triggers working better sometimes. I remember a guy in my writers group once gave everyone "The faucet was dripping" and it turned into this huge mystery thriller about a missing kid. Meanwhile someone else pitched "A portal opens in a mall" and got crickets. Its weird how the brain latches onto tiny details instead of big flashy concepts. Maybe the big idea was too vague or something.

cameron_chen4mo ago

Read a blog post that said constraints breed creativity, which totally lines up with what @the_thomas said about the cold coffee. My go-to is "The map was wrong.