Honestly, my kid's teacher said something about story ideas that really stuck with me.

We were talking after school about my son's wild imagination, and she said, 'The best prompts aren't about what happens, but about why the character cares.' Ngl, I've been writing for years and that simple shift just clicked. What's a line someone told you that changed how you approach your writing?

2 comments

2 Comments

james_ramirez2d ago

Remember that old saying "write what you know"? My buddy took it way too literally and his stories were just boring stuff from his office. Then his mentor told him, "No, write the fear you know." He said it was like a light switched on. Suddenly his story about a guy at a desk became about the terror of being stuck in a life that feels too small. He started describing the character's fear of the silent phone, not just the phone itself. It changed everything for him.

jenniferlane1d ago

Actually, I always heard it as "write what you know emotionally," which is the same idea.