Got schooled by a librarian at the downtown branch about my prompt ideas

I was at the Austin Public Library last Saturday, browsing the fiction section for some writing inspiration, and I mentioned to the librarian that I was stuck on a prompt about a haunted vending machine. She looked at me and said, 'You're overthinking it. Just write what you saw at the 7-Eleven on 6th Street at 2 AM.' It was weirdly specific but totally got me thinking. Has anyone else had a random stranger give you a better prompt idea than you could dream up yourself?

2 comments

2 Comments

spencer_sanchez6724d ago

Honestly that librarian sounds like she's seen some stuff at that 7-Eleven, bet she's got a whole notebook of gold prompts from people's weird 2 AM stories.

maxb4624d ago

Hear me out though - that librarian's probably got the most boring prompts imaginable. Most people at 2 AM are just buying a Slurpee and mumbling about work the next day.