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I tried writing a prompt from a stranger's overheard convo at a diner
Last Tuesday I sat at a Denny's in Fresno and eavesdropped on this old couple arguing about whether their dog liked jazz. I used that as a writing prompt and got my best short story in a year. Has anyone else mined real life dialogue like this, or do you prefer purely made up stuff?
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jakewhite1mo ago
Sat down at a bus stop in Reno once and heard two guys going back and forth about their fantasy football draft, but one of them kept sneaking in complaints about his girlfriend between picks. Wrote a whole scene about a guy who can't separate his league decisions from his relationship problems, and it just clicked. The weird rhythm of how real people talk, all the stops and starts and off-topic tangents, that's gold you can't fake on your own.
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