Hello, dear reader, and welcome to an inner debate I’m having right now. I’m thinking of writing a story based on daily creative prompts. Normally, you’d use a prompt to get you started on a story by getting a singular idea. Is there any possible way to bring numerous disparate story ideas into a singular tale, bringing it into a cohesive whole?
What I mean is, say I write a chapter a day based on a prompt. Maybe just a page a day. The story is, for grins, 30 chapters (or days) long. The first prompt says the story is based on a corporation’s monopoly selling clean water. The problem is the corporation is lying and all water on the planet is clean. How did people start believing the lie? Why do they continue to believe it? Is anyone doing anything about it? Well, it sounds like a decent prompt. The next day the prompt may say something like a unicorn salesman is down on his luck. His magical unicorns are sick and losing their magic. In order to keep their magic the salesman has to make all the children of his village smile. Every day. It is possible to bring these two stories together. But what about the 15th day? What happens when 15 chapters, or pages, become a jumbled mess of stories?
The question thus becomes, what sort of rules should I have for liberties with the prompts? Should I take every prompt literally or not? Would it make sense to take prompts from different sites, or do they all need to come from the same source? Could I write with an unlimited cast of characters and environments? Dear reader, do you have any suggestions or rules you’d want me to use?
This is the idea I’m toying with. I plan to post the results on the website. Let me know what you think. Any suggestions? Have a good day, dear reader!
What I mean is, say I write a chapter a day based on a prompt. Maybe just a page a day. The story is, for grins, 30 chapters (or days) long. The first prompt says the story is based on a corporation’s monopoly selling clean water. The problem is the corporation is lying and all water on the planet is clean. How did people start believing the lie? Why do they continue to believe it? Is anyone doing anything about it? Well, it sounds like a decent prompt. The next day the prompt may say something like a unicorn salesman is down on his luck. His magical unicorns are sick and losing their magic. In order to keep their magic the salesman has to make all the children of his village smile. Every day. It is possible to bring these two stories together. But what about the 15th day? What happens when 15 chapters, or pages, become a jumbled mess of stories?
The question thus becomes, what sort of rules should I have for liberties with the prompts? Should I take every prompt literally or not? Would it make sense to take prompts from different sites, or do they all need to come from the same source? Could I write with an unlimited cast of characters and environments? Dear reader, do you have any suggestions or rules you’d want me to use?
This is the idea I’m toying with. I plan to post the results on the website. Let me know what you think. Any suggestions? Have a good day, dear reader!