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Tried a prompt about a sentient houseplant and it went way too dark
So last week, I was stuck on a story idea and grabbed a random prompt from a jar I keep on my desk. It was 'write from the point of view of a houseplant that has just gained consciousness.' I thought, cool, maybe something funny about seeing people's weird home habits. I sat down to write for about an hour, and it just... spiraled. The plant became aware of being trapped in a pot, totally dependent on these giant creatures for water and light, and it got super paranoid and sad. I ended up with three pages of this fern having a full-on existential crisis, which was not the light, quirky piece I planned. It taught me that even a silly prompt can unlock some deep, unexpected feelings if you just follow where it goes. Has anyone else had a prompt totally flip on them like that, where the tone went somewhere you never planned?
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fisher.thomas8d ago
Okay but "existential crisis" for a fern? In my experience, that's just called being a houseplant. It's stuck in a pot, we water it. The deep feelings might be coming from you, not the prompt.
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