A librarian in Portland gave me a writing prompt I still think about

I was looking for a book on plot structure last month and asked the librarian for help. She found the book, then said, 'Try this: write about a person who finds something they lost years ago, but now they wish they hadn't.' She wrote it on a scrap of paper for me. That simple idea stuck in my head more than any book I checked out that day. What's the best writing prompt someone has ever given you?

3 comments

3 Comments

henry_hernandez4mo agoMost Upvoted

Honestly that prompt is pretty great, it makes you think about how people change. Used to think good prompts had to be super complex or weird, but the simple ones hit harder sometimes. Maybe it's just me but that librarian's idea would stick in my head too. Makes you wonder what you'd do in that spot, finding something you're better off without.

henry_hernandez4mo agoMost Upvoted

Right? The simple ones get under your skin. Found an old journal at my grandma's once, just a grocery list from like 1992, and it made me SO sad for no clear reason. Sometimes the normal stuff hits way harder than any crazy story.

riley_ramirez812mo ago

Ngl I feel that deeply. henry_hernandez that thing about the grocery list from 1992 hit me right in the chest because it's so true. Like you find this random piece of someone's old life and suddenly you're mourning a whole person you never even knew. That librarian's prompt kinda does the same thing but in reverse, you're the one who changed and the object is just sitting there waiting. I think about all the little stuff I've lost over the years and honestly some of it I really hope stays lost forever. There's something almost scary about how something so small can remind you of a version of yourself you worked hard to leave behind.