A guy at a coffee shop in Portland saw my notebook and gave me the best prompt idea

He pointed at my blank page and said, 'Write about the person who just left that half-full mug.' It happened last Tuesday, and I've been using that 'abandoned object' angle ever since. Anyone have other simple starters like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

roberts.leo1mo ago

But what if the mug is the only clue to who the person was?

dylan_brown301mo ago

My old writing teacher always said to start with a character, but that mug idea is way better.

nguyen.angela1mo ago

Hold on, starting with a mug is a dead end. A cool object doesn't mean anything without a person to care about it. Your teacher was right. A character gives you someone to root for or hate, which is the whole point of a story. That mug idea will get boring fast if there's no one to drink from it or smash it or whatever. You need a person first to make any object matter.