the ups and downs of using idea generators —

Just to amuse myself I took a look at cutterpillow's "101 Tips to Fight & Overcome Writer's Block" tutorial. I have to say, I've looked through a couple chapters and I can't say that any of that stuff will work for me. Almost everything about the tutorial turns me off. I don't like the huge font that makes me want to unzoom my screen so it seems like I'm looking at better fitted text. The external links used are from all from an eBook website, which at times can't be totally reliable. I don't understand why each one of her titles (which should be Tip ...) isn't bigger than the tip itself. Her seventy third tip--or seventy fourth, I don't remember--is to use idea generators from online websites. To amuse myself, I clicked on one of the links and generated some ideas just to see what came up.

These may or may not help people. I find that writing prompts actually hinder my writing because I can't think as freely when writing, it can give a good start but I may or may not stray away from the point of the assignment. I found it funny that some of the prompts given were far fetched and hard to understand how one related to another. It would just put me into a pickle, not solve my writing problem. I'm not saying it won't not work for everyone, it's just that I feel that not all writing prompt websites will do any good. Just to prove my point that not all writing prompts from online sites are any good, I'll be listing a few that came up when I was playing with Seventh Sanctum's. Everything bolded will be the prompt itself, the rest following will be my own comments.

• The story ends during a police investigation. The story must involve a bow at the end. A police investigation sounds interesting but if you have writer's block, you aren't going to be able to think of a liable scenario. If anything you would go for something very generic and boring like a kidnapping. The word "kidnap" is even a tag on this website so obviously it's on the rise as a trending topic. Also because of your writer's block prompts have to be more specific. A bow can be multiple things. You can tell because it says "a bow" that it is a noun and not a verb like "bow down to the king" type of thing. This could mean it is a bow, as in a tied knot, or a bow and arrow. You can interpret it either way but like I said before, prompts used to fight writer's block have to be specific or else you won't get too far into a story.
• During the story, there is a visit by an unexpected visitor. The story must involve a javelin in it. Seriously, a javelin? Once again this proves to be a pointless prompt that can't go too far because it isn't specific enough. It is way too broad and in ways with prompts, you need something narrow so that you know what to look for in your writing once you start. A javelin can actually be a type of gun or a spear used in medieval times.
• This story takes place during the winter. During the story there is a dramatic discovery. Writing about winter is prefectly legit. It gives a setting, which for some people can prove to be difficult. However, once again I think it isn't that specific again. As writer's we do our best not to use trite ideas and stray away from the writing norm. But thinking as a writer on this website, I bet that most of you weret thinking of sickness when you saw "dramatic discovery". It's the easiest way out of a promt to use what is generic but it just isn't worth it because you're not using any originality. Sorry.
• The story must involve some musical pipes in the beginning. A character kills someone. How do you possibly work with that? Musical pipes and a killing don't typically associate with each other unless you're Edgar Allan Poe. And yes, Poe spells Allan with an -an not the usual -en. To me, this can go many different ways but none of them are appealing. Some people are attracted to murder stories but on this website, it's rare because we all love our and fluff more. Most stories that are horror are really underrated, if written well, and don't get the view they deserve. There is a chance that it will be enough to give you a good idea on how to write a whole story but I can almost guarentee that not too many people will be looking for it.
• Now this one is from a different website, Adam Maxwell. It was what they had always dreamed of. I don't see this helping my writer's block at all. At least the others gave some type of substance that could be worked with. This doesn't give any kind of hint as to what should be happening. A person can dream many things. It gives you so many oppertunities to conjure up ideas. Because we have writer's block you'll go for more generic things that are easier to recall because perhaps you've seen it before and it'll just seem like another story that someone's already seen before.
• This now is from a different prompt generator because the others were taking too long to load. Tell about a time that you did something that took  alot of nerve, a time when you didn't follow the crowd. To me this sounds like a quote from my iPod Touch background app ... "I'm that guy that did that thing that one time." It doesn't strike me, putting me in a bigger rut than I was before when I started to have my writer's block in the first place.
• A famous person comes to your home. Tell what happens. Alright, this is how this one normally goes ... "My name is insert-name-here and my brother is insert-famous-guy-here and now I have insert-band-name-here insert-number-of-guys-here living with me!" I know it's wordy but that's how things normally go. The story becomes about a girl who ends up living with a whole bunch of guys and whatnot. It's overused and unrealistic.
• She seemed like such a sweet old lady. Who would ever believe that she was really ... a . Nobody writes about old ladies unless they're a crazy old hag who has a bunch of cats. Maybe I'm exaggerating ... or maybe I just know because I have an aunt with, like, three cats. She hasn't yet gone overboard.
• When I was studying for a test I always try to ... find better prompts. Sounds like a personal problem to me. I see a plot but will anyone read it, hell to the no. No offense but who cares what you do when you study? This idea has already been used anyway. Ever heard of the past featured story "Go away OPPA! I need to STUDY!" by B1andB2?
• Imagine that the time is late at night, you are at home when the telephone rings. Create a story that includes this scene. Well I guess I can write something based off of either Scream 1, 2, 3, or 4. Or how about this "Do you wanna play a game?"
• Imagine that you can be invisible for a day. Write a story about that day. Sounds like it's been done before! It's from a little cartoon called Spongebob. It's not in the same format that this generator wants you to go by but it's almost the same thing. Spongebob and Patrick buy these paint cans and spray themselves to make each other invisible. If you've seen the episode for yourself, you know what happens next.

I could keep on going but I don't feel like flipping through these bizzare prompts anymore. Of course, there are upsides to using generators. If you do have a very wild imagination it could help you. However, I feel hindered using generators because I like to write more freely. A generator's use is all within the eye of the beholder. I find it pointless to use and annoying in existence but it can be helpful.