Prompt community idea

[clare_dragonfly]

So I was looking at a prompt community on LJ, and I was thinking it sounded really awesome until I realized it didn't work the way I thought it worked. Then I thought, I could create my own prompt community that worked the way I thought that one did!

Basically, my idea is that there would be a table of prompts, except that each prompt would be assigned a number and that's all you would see (though maybe some of the prompts would be initially visible, to mix up the mystery levels?). Then people would pick pairs of numbers/prompts, and I would respond via email or screened comment telling them what each prompt was. And then they would take the pair of prompts and write a piece based on that combination.

Hmm, after writing that out, I'm wondering if it would be better to have half the prompts visible and half of them not, so you would pick one that you knew you'd like and then the one to combine it with would be a surprise. Or you could pick two you knew you'd like, or two surprises, or any combination of the above. That might be more fun.

The way that comm worked was that prompt choosing was open for a week, then posting open for the rest of the month, with a masterpost at the end, so I would probably run this one the same way.

So, would anybody else be interested in such a comm? Enough to bother running it, maybe a co-mod so I could get some mystery prompts too? :D

ETA: Please see my response to pippin below for a modified version of the combined-prompt idea that I think might work better!

Comments

[ex_pippin880]

Depends what sort of prompts, I guess? I mean, what happens if you get a prompt you can't do anything with? At least with a bingo board-style you have plenty of prompts to choose from if it turns out some just don't work for you.

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I think you're on the right track with some visible prompts and some obscure prompts. You might also consider offering some in thematic batches (romantic prompts, fight scenes, plot twists, mystery prompts, etc.) for both visible and obscured options.

I don't have time to mod a community, but I could give you some prompts. I am very good at generating those.

[clare_dragonfly]

I was thinking pretty brief prompts; like, my origfic_bingo card has really simple stuff like "wings" and "adventures." I've had that card since December and I've only written two of the prompts, one of which the prompt was shoehorned in later, because brief stuff like that is not really very prompty to me. That's why I want to do something with pairs of prompts. (That was totally a digression from answering your question. I apologize.)

You do have a good point about having options, and I've come up with something that might work better: a multiplication table! XD It would be like a bingo board, but with prompts along the top and sides, so you could multiply them by each other. It could include a row of blanks, too, so you could include some one-prompt responses. That would broaden the options a lot.

Re: Hmm...

[clare_dragonfly]

Yay prompts! I will totally take you up on that (assuming I go ahead with this idea), I am terrible at prompts.

I came up with a related-but-different idea that I described to pippin above. It doesn't include some visible and some obscure prompts, but it does open up options much wider for the writer. I like the thematic idea, too--origfic_bingo allows you to request gen, romance, kink, or a combination, and this comm could have similar options as well.

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Oh, I do this kind of stuff all the time. Over on the DW and LiveJournal "Crowdfunding" communities I see various folks calling for prompts; "Freestuffday" on LJ does too. Then there is Ellen Million's Sketchfest and the Torn World Muse Fusion and other stuff.

Once a month I hold a Poetry Fishbowl in my LJ. I set a theme and people give me prompts, then I write poems based on whatever I get. I post one free, and the rest are available for sponsorship. It's very popular and lots of fun.

[d_generate_girl]

Hmmm, interesting. Would this just be for origfic or would it be open to other kinds of writing (fanfic, meta, etc)?

[clare_dragonfly]

I was thinking original and fanfic--never thought of meta being inspired by prompts! In fact, now that I think about it, it should be open to any kind of art-making. Why put limits on creativity other than the kind that makes creativity better?

Re: Hmm...

[clare_dragonfly]

Heh, yeah, I know about all those things (I am a member of both crowdfunding communities!). I try to offer prompts when aldersprig does calls for them but I don't think I'm very good at it. Except when she does letter themes. Then I come up with random words that all begin with the same letter XD

I keep meaning to stalk one of your Fishbowls and see what kind of prompts people give you.

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Okay, cool.

>>I keep meaning to stalk one of your Fishbowls and see what kind of prompts people give you.<<

Sometimes I get just a word or phrase. Other times it is a complete little plot. Some people send image prompts of photos or art. I also stipulate that it's okay to ask for a favorite poetic form.

What I link to are the followup reports rather than the fishbowl posts themselves. But if you look in the landing page at the fishbowl list, it gives the dates. You can use LJ's calendar archive function to view the posts on those dates and open the fishbowl posts that way.

Here is the landing page link:
http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/730515.html

Here are a couple of recent "Fishbowl Open" posts where you can see the prompts:
http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/1583710.html
http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/1539961.html

Next fishbowl is Tuesday, April 5 with a theme of Mad Science.

[ex_pippin880]

Oh, interesting!

(I did one bingo card where I doubled-up on prompts! Man, I should do more. Haven't written hardly anything in a couple months. .__.)

[ex_pippin880]

Also I could help with prompts if you still needed someone else. I don't know how good I would be at brief ones, though?

[clare_dragonfly]

Oh neat! How did you decide which ones to pair?

[clare_dragonfly]

Hey, extra prompts are always good. I suppose I shall start a list, divided up into themes...

[aldersprig]

Mildly confused but awfully intrigued.

[clare_dragonfly]

Hee, what are you confused about? Maybe I can clarify!

[aldersprig]

Might just be the Mondaze.

So the prompts would be one picked and one random, and write-within-a-week?

[clare_dragonfly]

It's Tuesday :-P

The original idea would be one picked and one random, and write within a month. The multiplication-table-bingo-card idea would be all random, you pick the combination, on a monthly schedule but without a deadline (like origfic_bingo).

[aldersprig]

I had a very long long weekend, thus I have the Mondaze :-P

Either sounds fun. I could help with prompts, too

[clare_dragonfly]

Whee!

[aldersprig]

I like prompts!

[ex_pippin880]

I started out just doing mirrored twins, but didn't like the look of the pairs, so I kept the mirror structure, but allowed myself to pick any pairs as long as the end result was symmetrical.