Warning: a beta reader called my prompts too soft, so I rewrote the rules I give people

Jake Bell · 2026-10-16T14:05:06.327071+00:00

I run a small prompt swap with 5 writers from a Discord group, and last month one of them told me my prompts were too soft because I kept handing out nice, safe setups. She said every prompt I wrote told people what to feel, which left nothing to figure out. So I rewrote my list with one hard rule: no prompt can name an emotion, only a physical action or object. The new batch starts with stuff like "a locked cooler and a receipt for 2 nights at a motel" and people can go anywhere with it. I've got 12 of them now, and I'm curious how other people keep their prompts from doing the thinking for the writer.

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Warning: a beta reader called my prompts too soft, so I rewrote the rules I give people | Creative Writing Prompts - Topic Shares