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What makes a good fic prompt?
Sep. 22nd, 2006 07:45 pmI've been thinking about fic inspiration since I began the Great Prompting of Aught Six. Only one person that I know of took me up on the first prompt (*waves at Trekgirl*) and at least one person expressed confusion as to how answering the prompt would even work.
This led me to wonder what makes a good fic prompt? My initial prompt (Choose a character you don't like in one of your fandoms and write a fic (drabble, ficlet, epic length novel) exploring why you don't like that character--just what it is about that character that squicks you, gets on your nerves, pisses you off, or makes you uncomfortable. I don't mean a character bashing fic; I mean one in which you really thoughtfully examine the elements of the character you don't like.) could be answered in any fandom with any pairing.
So....do prompts have to be fandom-specific, or even character-specific to really function well as prompts? Do you think the nonfandom/nonpairing-specific prompt can work? Does a pairing plus an adjective, a color, and a noun work for you? Or do prompts in the form of song lyrics or lines of poetry inspire you? For you as a fic writer, what kinds of prompts really get you to writing?
Commenting with examples especially appreciated. :)
[And here, I'm not asking what inspires you in your every day life (like a song you hear on the metro), but what kinds of prompts that other people have given you that have yielded good results.]
This led me to wonder what makes a good fic prompt? My initial prompt (Choose a character you don't like in one of your fandoms and write a fic (drabble, ficlet, epic length novel) exploring why you don't like that character--just what it is about that character that squicks you, gets on your nerves, pisses you off, or makes you uncomfortable. I don't mean a character bashing fic; I mean one in which you really thoughtfully examine the elements of the character you don't like.) could be answered in any fandom with any pairing.
So....do prompts have to be fandom-specific, or even character-specific to really function well as prompts? Do you think the nonfandom/nonpairing-specific prompt can work? Does a pairing plus an adjective, a color, and a noun work for you? Or do prompts in the form of song lyrics or lines of poetry inspire you? For you as a fic writer, what kinds of prompts really get you to writing?
Commenting with examples especially appreciated. :)
[And here, I'm not asking what inspires you in your every day life (like a song you hear on the metro), but what kinds of prompts that other people have given you that have yielded good results.]
