Blank page prompts are a cop out compared to constrained prompts

I tried running a creative writing session with just 'write whatever you want' and got nothing but blank stares for 20 minutes. Switched to a prompt like 'write a 100 word story about a vending machine that only dispenses lies' and suddenly everyone had something to say. The difference was night and day. I ran this experiment twice with two different groups in my local writers meetup in Austin. Both times the constrained prompts produced way more interesting stuff in half the time. Has anyone else found that limits actually free up your writing?

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wendy_murphy162mo ago

My friend Sarah runs a poetry workshop at the library near me, and she had the same problem. She started with "write a poem about anything" and people just sat there shuffling papers. Then she tried "write a poem about getting stuck in an elevator with your ex" and suddenly the room was buzzing. People wrote stuff about spilled coffee, bad perfume, and awkward silences. The funniest one was about a guy who only ate snacks he found on the floor of the elevator (which is disgusting, but whatever). Constrained prompts work because they give your brain a little push, you know?

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river_adams251mo ago

Yeah @wendy_murphy16 totally nailed it, same thing happened at a writing group I went to with a "write about a vending machine that talks back" prompt.

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