Hot take: a 10 word prompt beats a 500 word one every time
I used to write these huge paragraph prompts for my writing group in Denver, pages of backstory and rules. Last month I tried a three line one instead, just "a locksmith finds a key that fits nothing," and the six stories people brought back were way better than anything from the long ones. The short prompt left room for people to bring their own weird ideas. The long ones just made everyone try to match my details. Does anyone else write short prompts on purpose, and how short do you go before it stops working?