Warning: my best writing day ever got ruined by a single prompt about a talking toaster

I wrote 3,000 words in a coffee shop in Austin, but then that prompt made me delete the whole thing in frustration. Has a prompt ever completely derailed your momentum like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_ryan2mo ago

Yeah that "bad days" folder idea is smart. I've got a folder called "trash drafts" for stuff that feels wrong in the moment. I'll open it months later and sometimes the problem was just me being tired, not the writing. Never delete in frustration, just move it out of sight.

kellyj231mo ago

I mean I get the idea but honestly I've never gone back to those folders. For me if something feels off in the moment, it's usually because the core idea is weak. I had this one draft about a guy finding an old radio, and it just wouldn't click. Saved it for a year, looked back, and it was still a boring idea. Sometimes you just gotta let the bad stuff go to make room for something better.

seths362mo ago

Austin coffee shops have that weird energy where you can write a whole book or smash your laptop. I never delete a full session though, I just save it in a folder called "bad days" and walk away. Sometimes the problem isn't the prompt, it's the timing, like getting a phone call right when you're figuring out a tough scene.