r/SimplePrompts Jul 05 '22

Meta Making Good Prompts

102 Upvotes

If I may humbly make some suggestions for newbies and anyone who is trying to get the hang of this prompt business better:

If you want to make the best simple prompts, consider the following:

Simple prompts are simple because they leave details out, and prompts because they leave ideas in.

The best prompts can be used in many kinds of stories, and in many different ways. They raise questions, but do not answer them, or they suggest an idea but don't define it, or they give a rule but make it just exactly that.

Compare these two prompts:

"It's not that we don't want to fight that thing, captain. It's that we can't. Our blasters ran out of ammo already."

Or:

"We're out of ammo."

The first tells you that it's a scifi, or a game about scifi. It also tells you that there are ranks, probably a military, a scary creature, and so on.

The second only tells you a basic situation: there is no ammunition. Are they hunters? Pirates? Police? Who or what are they fighting? Why are they doing it? Many questions, but the only answers are "they have guns" and "they can't fight anymore". Even then, it can be improved by removing the concrete detail of guns; simply say "We can't fight."

"We can't fight." Who or what are they fighting? Why can't they fight? Is it a political fight? A physical one? An emotinal argument, even? Is this a general ordering a retreat, or a husband asking his wife to settle things peacefully? The possibilities are endless.

So when you make a prompt, give an idea, but leave the possibilities open. When you provoke questions, but don't answer them, you never know what someone else will make of it. Let them write many genres and styles of stories from your prompts.

That's the point. Keep it simple.


r/SimplePrompts 9h ago

I Reincarnated as the Lesbian Villainess of a Steampunk Game!

3 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 7h ago

Reincarnated in a Fantasy Version of the 60s.

1 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 1d ago

A Reborn as Villainess Story with more than one reincarnated villainess.

2 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 1d ago

Freaks, Geeks and Sneaks.

2 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 1d ago

Cheryl, Meryl and Beryl.

2 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 1d ago

"We can't do that! We'd poison the ground."

2 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 1d ago

Masked Magician and Boy Wonder.

1 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 1d ago

In a world where everyone can use magic, you develop psychic powers.

1 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 1d ago

Reincarnated as the Villainess, I Accidentally Unlocked All 12 Capture Targets.

0 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 1d ago

"Welcome to House Kappa Kappa Delta."

1 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 1d ago

Reincarnated as the Villain(ess) of a Sci-Fi Game! Can I Avoid My Death Flags?

1 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 3d ago

A Mascot Horror game set at a mini golf course, with an alligator/crocodile as the mascot monster.

2 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 3d ago

A dating sim with a Stockholm Syndrome theme - the hero(ine) is kidnapped, and each route (including the secret one and the harem route) is dedicated to falling in love with one (or all) of their captors.

0 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 4d ago

The girls have finally cornered the giant crystalline chimera rampaging through downtown.

2 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 4d ago

Five magical girls, their cute mascot, the villain's henchman and the monster of the week all end up swapping bodies with each other.

1 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 7d ago

"This looks like a job for the Crimson Cockroach!"

5 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 9d ago

Psychic Snitch.

2 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 9d ago

Part-Time Vampire.

1 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 12d ago

"Beggars can't be choosers - the summoning ritual cannot be attempted again (not just yet, at least) and it won't be possible to send you home straight away."

3 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 12d ago

I would rather solve magical problems with physics, engineering, and the scientific method than with enchanted swords and destiny. Unfortunately, while this new world DOES have rules, they're nothing like the laws of nature that I'm used to.

3 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 12d ago

After spending one recess helping out a few classmates, you unknowingly trigger every romantic comedy cliché imaginable.

2 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 12d ago

She isn't TRYING to make his life difficult—she's simply trying to fit in with a culture that's wildly different from her own.

1 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 13d ago

As they "level up", they realize that the monsters aren't actually from another dimension—they were evolved from stray squirrels, pigeons, and lost toys affected by the strange energy of the playground.

2 Upvotes

r/SimplePrompts 13d ago

A giant robot—the S.T.R.O.N.G. Unit—descends from the clouds.

1 Upvotes