Toe in the Water

Prompts and All That

Prompts and All That

I had a thought and it’s my thought so it makes no claim to infallibility. But it just might be true and is certainly worth thinking about. This comes from over a year’s participating in contests and a sudden realisation of what’s wrong with prompts. If I may phrase it succinctly:

The longer the prompt, the less scope for imagination.

The best prompt of all is the one-worder for it invites a multitude of interpretations and has no hope of restricting a contestant to a particular path. As words get added, the boundaries march inward until, eventually, the contestants are forced into the position of merely putting the finishing touches to a piece that the contest owner wants to see. Those, I never write for, considering that, if it’s that important that the piece be written, the prompt originator should write it themself.

I have a strong belief that this is what decreases the number of entrants and, ultimately, leads to the demise of the contest. It is possibly a factor, at least.

Give me one or two words to play with and I’m happy to set them free into the fields of my imagination. But tell me the story and then ask me to end it and I’ll look elsewhere. You might disagree - so tell me and show me where I’m wrong.


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