-2

Stop using your old prompts as templates, it killed my whole story

I used to just grab a prompt I liked and swap out the names and setting to make a new one. Did that for like 2 years. Thought I was being efficient. Then last week I wrote one about a lighthouse keeper and it was literally the same beats as a diner one I did in March. Same twist, same conflict. My writing group called it out. I had to step back and realize I was just remixing my own stuff without adding anything new. Now I force myself to start from a blank page or a random word generator, even if the first draft is garbage. It takes way longer but at least it's actually different. Has anyone else hit this wall and how do you break out of your own patterns?

1 comments

1 Comment

milam422h ago

Ugh, that stings, but honestly it's the best wakeup call you could get.