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Overused fantasy prompts are killing our writing group's energy
I gave a prompt where a hero finds a magic sword in a cave. Three people wrote almost the same story about defeating a dark lord. It felt like we were just copying old books, not creating anything new. Why do we keep using ideas that lead nowhere?
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the_ben6mo ago
Maybe the problem isn't the old prompt, but the old goal. What if the sword's real magic was something useless, like making perfect toast?
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shanef346mo ago
That "useless" magic is the whole point, the_ben. You stop chasing the old goal and start seeing what's actually there. Then you can build something new around the real function.
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reese_rodriguez866mo ago
What if the toast thing is the key though? Like the real magic is always the thing you'd never think to ask for.
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the_terry5mo ago
My friend's old car radio only picked up weather reports, which saved his trip, kind of like @shanef34 said.
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