#anyway this isn't inspired by any specific thing just a trend i've noticed

[tibby]

fascinating to me that the whole “don’t judge a book by its cover” mentality has really gone out of the window in terms of media consumption in recent years. meaning that the amount of mediocre or just plain bad content (books, movies, shows, etc) that get heaps and heaps of praise just because they look pretty (or in terms of movies/shows, have the right names attached) seems to have multiplied. 

[give-soup-please]

would it be alright to know which asks/prompts you're considering working on? i'm very curious to know what sorts of things catch your eye and what doesnt

I'm not sure how much good it will do to answer this ask now, given that we've got a little over 2.5 weeks left before I stop writing headcanons for good, but I'll do it anyway. Certain prompts are easier to write for than others, that's for sure. I'll do my best to keep these anons anonymous and not call them out, but there are some trends I've noticed.

The main thing I've noticed is that people send in concepts instead of prompts. There's a distinct difference between a prompt and a concept. I'm taking this example from a friend of mine, because he's better at explaining it than I am.

"a prompt is something that prompts you to think about an idea and to fill in the gaps with your own ideas and concepts.

a concept itself is more like, something that exists and is there. for example, "You now have purple hair" is a concept, "What would you do if you wanted to dye your hair" is a prompt."

As you can imagine, I much prefer prompts over concepts. Prompts have more wiggle room and allow for more creativity.

Sometimes people get... too specific. The ideal prompt strikes a balance between being specific enough to generate ideas, while still being general enough that I can explore a few different scenarios, and choose which one I like most.

Other ones I don't like doing involve being told exactly what to write. An example my friend came up with to illustrate this issue goes as follows: "What if the narrator ate an apple and was like 'ew, what is this, i've never tried this before' and then threw the apple away?" They just tell me to rewrite what they've wrote, which isn't great.

I hope this doesn't seem too much like me just complaining. Most of what's left in my inbox is really hard to write for, which is why posts are slow. I have around 90 or so in my inbox, and... I'm having a lot trouble.

It's why I don't answer in order of what's received, though I probably should. It's why I chose to leave the inbox open, because all that's left... I'm really struggling with. I need the new ideas both because they've got the potential to be good, and occasionally they unblock something that will make an older prompt doable.

I don't hold ill will about any request that's sent in, and I don't want people to feel guilty. But these are things people should be aware of.

As for what I do love writing for, well-

The weighted blanket ones were a lot of fun, but I think I've taken that as far as I can. Obsessive narrator is also hella fun. Father figure is a real hoot. I love writing about a narrator who loves, whatever form that takes. I enjoy getting to write his more unhinged self, because he's very unhinged underneath the fancy words and propriety. He's half writer, half theatre kid. I love writing chase scenes, too. The narrator strikes me as someone who pursues the people/things he enjoys, and that's almost always guaranteed to be fun.

The thing is, I've looked back at what I've written, and I've looked back at the things I've had the most fun doing, and the truth is, there are no specific prompts that are guaranteed to be fun. I've had obsessive narrator prompts that were 'meh' and the same with father figure. It might just be luck. Sometimes a prompt will come in and there's that jolt I get in my brain. I crack a smile, and type furiously until I burn out. That's only happened around five or so times, and those are the ones that are multiple pages long. (big brother narrator, breaking narrator out of the game, narrator accidentally cloning himself, narrator pulling reader into the game, and others)

But there's no guarantee of that happening, no formula that creates that response automatically.

I really hope this doesn't come off as me sounding like an asshole, but what's left in the inbox is stumping me. I feel bad that I can't write what people want me to write for, but inspiration for them is difficult for the above reasons.

I also want to make clear that just because a response is short, doesn't mean I hated the prompt. Sometimes, things are just hard to write for.

I stare at some of these prompts with bleary eyes, with nothing coming to mind, and it doesn't feel good. I want to make you guys happy, which means writing. There are days I can't write, and... I feel terrible. Part of me is quietly relieved that I'm ending the blog on my own terms, because the self pressure will ease.

Anyway, there's your overly long, detailed answer.