Question about a writing prompt trend I noticed on a site last month

I was browsing a big prompt site and saw the top 50 prompts from January versus April. In January, about 70% were simple one-line fantasy or sci-fi setups. By April, that dropped to maybe 30%. The new top prompts are all these complex, multi-part scenarios with specific rules and constraints, like 'write a dialogue where every sentence is a lie' or 'describe a city where memories are currency, but only from the view of a forgetful banker'. The shift happened fast, over about 90 days. It feels like the bar for what's considered a 'good' prompt got a lot higher, almost overnight. Has anyone else had to change how they come up with ideas because of this?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_willow3mo ago

Feel the same pressure, honestly.

jason732mo ago

Yeah, totally get that. Sandra's dad was onto something with the three steps thing, but even then it's like... okay, now I've got three steps but each one still feels huge, right? Like breaking it down helps but it doesn't make the actual doing any less scary, honestly. I try to remind myself that feeling pressured just means I care about getting it right, which is a good sign even if it sucks in the moment. The trick for me is to just start with the first little step, no matter how small, and then the second one feels less impossible (weirdly enough).

sandra2033mo ago

My dad always said to break big tasks into three small steps.