I can't do writing prompts, is that a sign of a bad author

BenJepheneT

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Writing prompts are the bane of me. I don't know how or why but I can only do my best if it's my own idea, setting and character. I can't make do with a given name and character trait. It has to be something that's straight out of my mind and done with the intended theme and purpose by me.

Is that a sign of a bad writer, or is it just an idiosyncrasy?
 

cyanwaw

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I don’t really feel comfortable doing writing prompts either, I just don’t get much inspiration writing about something that I don’t really care about.
 

Kotohood

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A bad storyteller is one who has an idea and can still botch it up, not the one with no ideas.

Also agree with @cyanwaw. Sometimes, you just don't feel like writing someone that doesn't interest you.
 
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it depends on the prompt for me.

if it doesn't interest me i most likely won't bother.

i don't think it's any indication at all. imo writing prompts isn't for everyone either,
 

Elateam

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I can't write in response to a writing prompt either since it takes me a really long time to think something through and it's a no go if there are pre-conditions like character names or setting.

Does that make us bad writers? No, since we actually care about how we want our writing to be read.

It probably makes us gods of our generation though which is what I use to cope with my sub-par writing. But hey, it works usually.
 

Viator

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Every writer has their own process to help keep them organized and prolific. There is no one method as long as it keeps you active in your writing projects. You just have to keep practicing different methods until you find the ones that suit you most to work at your best. There isn't a user's manual for any art, only suggestions that may or may not help you along the way.
 
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Scribbler

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No. Most prompts are simply bad. If you want good ones go on reddit. Don't confuse can't with won't. I'm sure you could, but you simply don't want to. "It doesn't speak to you." Or something like that. It's more preference than capability?

I was under the assumption most people here didn't care whether they were any good at writing or not. "They're just doing it for fun." I should try to be a real fucking novelist. I'll never make it big here.
 

jinxs2011

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Most of the writing prompts I see, I don't like. Either wrong genre for me or they just seem so generic and overused that I feel that they aren't worth wasting the time spent writing a reply.
 

Moonpearl

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I don't know about being a bad writer or not, but I've always found that taking the time to respond to writing prompts helps to train a writer to develop ideas and think outside the box.
I tend not to write much for them - a little section, or a short story at most.

Writing prompts that demand a whole novel or detail extremely specific events that the author has to write are bad, though. Those aren't really prompts, just requests for someone to write your idea for you.

My tactic for dealing with prompts is to start by thinking about the various ways I could interpret it, including how I could put a twist on it. I then choose my favourite and just run with it. I don't usually plan a lot for writing prompts unless there's some reason I want to give it a lot of attention. (Like a certain project I have coming up...)
Usually the first idea is the worst idea.

No. Most prompts are simply bad. If you want good ones go on reddit. Don't confuse can't with won't. I'm sure you could, but you simply don't want to. "It doesn't speak to you." Or something like that. It's more preference than capability?

I was under the assumption most people here didn't care whether they were any good at writing or not. "They're just doing it for fun." I should try to be a real fucking novelist. I'll never make it big here.

Even the people who are here for fun want to improve or receive feedback.

Also, writing stories and receiving advice here is a great way to improve your skill to become a novelist. It's also a good way to gain fans who will buy your novels if/when you succeed. I think publishers nowadays want you to bring a fandom from the get-go.
 

BenJepheneT

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I was under the assumption most people here didn't care whether they were any good at writing or not. "They're just doing it for fun."

I think I'm the counter to this. The reason I got on to SH in the first place is to improve upon my ideas. I may sound obnoxious and arrogant on this but I believe that my story ideas deserve a better writer to present, not by some wannabe novelist with a book and a pen.

It's true that I do this for fun, but at some point I'll just look at my past work and have the nagging demon in my head going This could be better this could be better .

I figured that if I could do prompts I could be a bit more flexible on my writing style and adapt. Seems like that's not the case.
 

Moonpearl

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Sheesh, isn't that asking too much? Even Harry Potter needed three books to kick-start a website.

Nowadays, with the growth of the internet, it works the other way around. Publishers are getting lazier and lazier, I've been told. They want you to advertise your own book and, like most industries, they want to take as few risks as possible.
 

YuriDoggo

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I dislike writing prompts as well. Also, some people do well with longer stories and not shorter ones. You might be one of those that just don't like short stories.
 

DaoFox

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you are not a bad author just because you cannot write according to somebody else's specifications on the spot.

I like looking through writing prompts for ideas I can work with but I don't go around doing them myself or worry about it being a sign of something.

I only write what comes into my head and I do it over a stretch of time while prompts are often designed to make you write out a predetermined scenario on the spot in say 30 minutes to an hour. it works for a very different type of writer that just doesn't happen to be you.

edit: that type is the type that favours "all writing is good writing and only by putting more words to paper do you become a better writer" while I am in the faction of "I care what I write, how I write, and why I write."
 

Silver_Sky

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I myself always hated writing prompts all but one writing prompt I had through school were complete garbage, but writing prompts are an asset to writers it helps to get over blocks think outside the narrow tunnels and improve quality without getting stuck with one specific genre or one 'type' of writing. I am not that good with them (if timed) because I need time to get my thoughts in order as I often think of many things at once as well as my atrocious grammar.

P.s. the one prompt in school that I liked I failed because I wrote 8 pages front and back about a sci fi setting and war and didn't finish at all as well as writing that much intending to go back and 'proofread'
 

Sonneillor

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I am one of those who has difficulties in writing, so I usually meet someone or several people and they give me a brainstorm and then I do the best I can do and that is putting together and editing all that.

A bad writer is one who, despite having the tools and ideas, does not know how to write his story consistently.
 

Ninetailed_Furball

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I'm personally a fan of writing prompts, despite the fact that I don't do them all that much.

To me, they're a form of growth through play. They don't really matter much, so there's no point in spending much time on them, but at the same time, they're a great way to explore unusual and new ideas, or to push your boundaries.

Not liking them isn't bad, and not everyone grows though them either. In fact, doing them too much severely stunts your growth as a writer, as you won't learn how to write proper arcs and long form techniques. You'll also become overly reliant on external inspiration rather than internal retrospection.

Well, in the end, the change in pace from the norm is the best part of it. Especially for me, as I can't help but make everything excessively long. Even the random stories I try writing on the side to get something out of my system ends up being ten or more chapters long, and nowhere near complete even at that.
 

sak-chii

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It also depends on the prompts if the prompt interest me

I just write prompts for stories I dont want to write but maybe someone else may be interested in it
 

S-Scherr

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Writing prompts are the bane of me. I don't know how or why but I can only do my best if it's my own idea, setting and character. I can't make do with a given name and character trait. It has to be something that's straight out of my mind and done with the intended theme and purpose by me.

Is that a sign of a bad writer, or is it just an idiosyncrasy?

You're not a bad writer if you don't enjoy writing prompts. If the prompt doesn't light a creative spark, then it's just not for you. I've written to a lot of writing prompts, usually during my break periods, just to stay sharp and challenge myself. And I've skipped just as many, too. I think they're really good for writers who haven't written anything in a while to 'reboot' their creative powers and get them flowing again.

I tend to find that the more detailed a prompt is, the less inviting it is. Prompts should be short and sweet (a handful of words around a theme), leaving it general enough for us creative folks to have elbow room, but stay on topic.
 
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