That prompt method everyone loves? It killed my story dead

Everyone swears by "show don't tell" as the golden rule for writing prompts, but after 4 months of forcing it on every post, my stuff felt flat and lifeless. I tried just telling the premise straight up in my last 3 prompts and got way more responses than usual. Anyone else find that the "rules" actually make for boring prompts?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_vera22h ago

Ugh same here, "show don't tell" just made my prompts sound like bad poetry.

kaiharris17h ago

I gotta disagree a little bit here. I think the problem isn't "show don't tell" itself but people taking it too far and forgetting the whole point. It's supposed to help you avoid boring info dumps, not make you write a whole dang poem every time. I've had way better luck using it as a spice not the whole meal. Like I'll show the scene for a sentence or two to set the mood then just tell the premise straight. The key is knowing when to break the rule, not following it blindly.