This is how the internet works.
- I subscribe to a newsletter from Medium, choosing a number of areas of interest
- I get a Medium Daily Digest email with links to articles reflecting my chosen interests
- One of these interests is writing
- One of the links is to an article titled 15 of the Best Free Web Applications for Writers
- This article highlights a number of interesting and useful tools–I approve!
- One of these is HubSpot’s Blog Topic Generator. I love generators because the results can sometimes work as intended, providing inspiration when you struggle to write anything, but more often they provide unintended amusement because they will happily interpret things literally or combine items in silly ways that are not meant to be silly
This leads to the results I got. As requested, I entered three nouns:
- cat
- future
- writing
I was not advised to write about cats in the future…or was I? Here are my week’s worth of suggested topics:
- 10 Quick Tips About Cat
- What Will Writing Be Like in 100 Years?
- 10 Things Your Competitors Can Teach You About Future
- 14 Common Misconceptions About Cat
- 10 Signs You Should Invest in Writing
First, I must admit I love the idea of this monolithic entity known as Cat. Cat is good. Cat is all. You will respect Cat. I am less convinced that I could come up with ten quick tips about Cat or 10 signs I should invest in writing. But I’m going to try, right now!
10 Quick Tips About Cat
- Cat is furry
- Cat has four legs
- Cat has tail
- Cat likes cat food
- Cat will chase laser pointer light
- Cat will sleep on your keyboard
- Cat does not like Dog
- Cat loves Mouse
- Cat is smarter than you
- Cat will come back the very next day
What Will Writing Be Like in 100 Years?
We’ll have fully switched over from fountain pens and foolscap to holo-typing machines that imprint the letters into a space slightly in front of and above our faces. Writing will be a holistic experience, one you share just by running up to someone and saying, “Watch this!” while you spew out words into the air between you and them. Then they will leave because you’re a bit of a freak. Writing will still be a very lonely thing.
10 Things Your Competitors Can Teach You About Future
- The future is always just ahead
- There’s no future in the past
- Prices will be higher
- That dude who is taller than you? In the future he’ll still be taller than you
- Wait, who are my competitors, exactly?
- If you don’t correctly anticipate future trends, you’ll never stop wearing those acid wash jeans
- The future is so bright you will need to wear shades
- Invest in sunglass manufacturing
- What goes up must come down, so invest in elevator technology
- Still not sure who my competitors are but they should watch out because I have read many books that predict the future using advanced math or something
14 Common Misconceptions About Cat
- Cat is really Dog in disguise
- Cat will never miss when jumping onto Couch
- Cat likes cheese; it is Mouse that likes cheese, though Cat likes Mouse the way Mouse likes Cheese
- Cat uses tail to communicate complex thoughts
- Cat is alien species silently watching and judging us
- Cat is spelled Kat in some countries; this is only done in cartoons for humorous effect, not in real life
- Kit Kat contains real Cat (see above)
- There are no cats with nine tails
- Cat on a hot tin roof does not mean Cat likes being on a hot tin roof–do not put Cat on hot tin roof
- Cat only speaks when it has something important to say (note: this may actually be true, Science has yet to prove one way or the other)
- Cat likes taking many baths
- Cat will never sleep on your keyboard
- Cat will never come back the very next day
- Cat enjoys long lists about misconceptions
10 Signs You Should Invest in Writing
- You see a big sign that says “You Should Invest in Writing”
- Your crazy but rich uncle says, “I’ll give you $100,000 if you write some stupid novel about anything.”
- You have a vision of the future and it’s filled with blank pages–and only you have a working pen!
- It’s better than investing in 8-track tape technology
- Time magazine will one day make “Words” the Person of the Year, making writing hot and in demand
- It’s like the lottery, someone’s going to strike it rich, so why not you? (Not applicable if you’re a hopeless hack.)
- A typewriter can be used for writing, self-defense and as a door stop; to not invest in something so practical would be foolish
- For #7 you may also want to invest in a time machine in order to acquire a typewriter
- Darth Vader shows up at your place and says, “Invest in writing or I’ll force choke you where you stand.” It’s probably just another one of your kooky dreams but better to not take any chances
- Because you saw it in a list
There, all done! Wait, that was supposed to be stretched over a week. I’ve done it all horribly wrong? Now what will I write about tomorrow?
Not to worry–there are plenty more great prompts just waiting to be used!
