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Can we talk about how every other prompt seems to be about amnesia now?
I've been browsing this forum and three different writing sites for about a week, and I swear half the prompts are 'you wake up with no memory.' It matters because it feels like a crutch that skips building a character's past naturally. I saw a list from a prompt generator in Austin that had it 12 times out of 20. What's a more interesting way to create mystery about a character's history?
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oliver_anderson1mo ago
Ever try giving a character a past they're actively running from instead of one they forgot? Make their history something they know but hide, so the mystery is in the lies they tell and the clues they slip up on. That forces you to build a real backstory that leaks out through their actions and fears. A character avoiding a specific town or flinching at a common name creates way more tension than a blank slate.
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joseph_murray81mo ago
Used to think amnesia prompts were fine, a quick way into a story. Then I wrote a guy who knew exactly why he was afraid of hospitals, kept making up fake stories about his limp. Watching him almost say his sister's name then bite his tongue... that felt way more real than just forgetting. The lies people choose tell you more than any blank space.
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