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I pulled a random word out of a hat for every prompt and somehow wrote a better story
Tried a writing exercise at my kitchen table in Boise where I pulled 20 random dictionary words and forced each into a prompt, and the weirdest one (a folding chair, don't ask) turned into the only piece my writing group actually liked, so now I'm wondering if anyone else has a random word trick that beats sitting around waiting for ideas.
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gray_roberts14d ago
The folding chair detail is what gets me. Random words work because they yank you off the path your brain keeps stomping down, all those easy words you reach for without thinking. Suddenly you have to build a bridge between two things that don't belong together, and that bridge is where the good stuff hides. I keep a jar of cut up words on my desk for exactly this. It's not magic though, you still have to write the thing and most pulls end up in the trash. But when one hits, it hits harder than anything I'd plan out.
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