Finding that prompts steer my tales into tired tropes every time.

I think prompts make writers rely on gimmicks instead of real inspiration. My attempt at a 'ghost in the machine' story was just a tech horror cliché. Curious if others avoid prompts for this reason.

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3 Comments

ivanl185mo ago

Yeah, breaking the prompt is key. Treat it like a suggestion you can completely flip around.

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murray.troy6mo ago

Man, I heard a writer say they use prompts like a rough sketch, not a set of instructions. They'll take the basic idea but change all the details so it feels new. Maybe the trick is to break the prompt on purpose instead of following it.

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william_black6mo ago

Agree with @murray.troy that prompts should be broken, not followed.

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