I stopped starting prompts with 'what if' and started using 'the last time I felt X' and my writing group actually wants to meet again

Margaret Grant · 2026-10-10T14:40:03.66796+00:00

For about 8 months my Tuesday night writing group in Tucson would go quiet every time we swapped prompt sheets, and I could not figure out why. Two weeks ago I sat down and counted: 11 of my last 14 prompts started with some version of "what if," and every one of them got me a bunch of sci-fi stories about the same three topics. So I made a choice. I could keep the "what if" formula because it was easy for me, or I could flip it to a feeling-based prompt. I went with "the last time I felt like a stranger in my own kitchen." Our quietest member, a retired mail carrier who barely says two words a meeting, read a 400 word piece about burning soup the week his wife moved out, and nobody spoke for a full minute after. I'm not saying I cracked some code, but I dragged 9 new pages out of a group that usually turns in 3, so I'll take the win. What line starters do you all use when your group goes stale?

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I stopped starting prompts with 'what if' and started using 'the last time I felt X' and my writing group actually wants to meet again | Creative Writing Prompts - Hub Chatter