Why does nobody mention that every writing prompt about 'amnesia' is basically the same story?

I was browsing prompts on here yesterday and counted 12 different prompts about characters waking up with no memory. 12! They all follow the same plot: mysterious past, slow reveals, emotional payoff. I dug into the stats and apparently 'amnesia' shows up in 1 out of every 15 prompts posted. That's way too many for such a tired trope. Has anyone else noticed how lazy the prompt ideas have gotten?

2 comments

2 Comments

robin_wright1d ago

ngl I've written three amnesia prompts myself and they're all basically the same story with different window dressing. guess I'm part of the problem lol. my latest one was literally "wakes up in a cabin with a note that says don't trust anyone" and I thought I was being original. turns out that's like the starter pack for amnesia prompts.

elliotr391d ago

11 billion prompts with the exact same setup. It's like how every "haunted house" horror movie trailer has that one shot of a door slowly creaking open. You see it, you know what's coming. My buddy tried to make a "unique" amnesia story where the guy forgot the last five years but remembered everything else. First scene was him waking up in a hotel room staring at a bloody knife. Man just reinvented the wheel but painted it a different color. We're all just shuffling the same deck of cards.