A guy at the library in Spokane told me my story idea was 'too safe'

I was working on a fantasy prompt about a hero with a magic sword, and this older man at the next table leaned over. He said, 'Kid, that's been done a thousand times. What if the sword was the villain, and the hero had to destroy it?' That was three years ago, and I still think about it every time I start a new idea. It completely flipped how I build my prompts now, pushing for that one weird twist. Has a single piece of advice from a stranger ever wrecked your whole writing plan?

2 comments

2 Comments

stone.thomas27d ago

Wait, he just leaned over and said that to you at the library? That's wild, I would have been so thrown off. A total stranger just calling your idea "too safe" to your face is next level. That kind of unsolicited advice could have gone so badly, but it actually stuck with you. It's crazy how one random sentence can just rewire your whole brain for years.

the_fiona26d ago

Right? Those tiny moments can really shift things. I had a teacher once tell me my writing was "competent but bloodless" in the margin of a paper. Just a scribble, but it made me stop trying to sound smart and start trying to say something real. It's the blunt, almost rude honesty that cuts through the noise. You don't forget the person who points out the fence you built around your own ideas.