TIL those 'write a story from a random object' prompts actually work

I always thought those 'pick a random item in your room and write its history' prompts were kind of silly... like, how good could a story about a stapler be? My friend in Denver bet me I couldn't write one in 20 minutes. I grabbed a chipped coffee mug from my desk and just started typing. By the end, I had a full page about a potter in the 1920s who lost her business. It totally surprised me. Has anyone else had a prompt they doubted that actually sparked something good?

3 comments

3 Comments

henrygrant2mo ago

Tried one of those once with a bent nail I found on a job site. Wrote three paragraphs about the ship it came from before I caught myself getting into it. Sometimes the dumbest limits force you to actually make something.

margaret6922mo ago

Lol but like, who's actually reading three paragraphs about a nail?

casey9091mo ago

Right? It seems silly until you're deep into it. I once wrote a whole page about a weird button I found in a parking lot, just for a challenge. You start making up a whole life for the thing, and suddenly you're invested. Those weird limits can actually be kind of fun once you get going.