The silence that comes with a creative block is the worst.
I know it well. I’ll be sitting there, staring at the ceiling, frustrated that I can’t come up with a single new idea, whether it’s for a video game concept, a vacation plan or even a movie.
That’s when I turn to ChatGPT.
I use it to map out rough ideas, push past mental blocks and spark concepts I wouldn’t have thought of on my own. I may not bring every wild idea to life, but I love getting them down on paper and revisiting them later — especially the ones that came out of nowhere.
If you’re feeling stuck, these seven ChatGPT prompts are a great place to start. They’ll help get your brain moving again and might just kick off your next big idea.
Leaving your creative slump behind
With any of these seven prompts, you can lead ChatGPT into helping you get inventive once again as you map out your creative conceptions:
- Give me 10 unexpected ideas about [topic] that break the usual rules
- Combine [A] and [B] into something completely new
- Give me 5 ideas that feel risky, controversial, or unconventional
- Turn this boring idea into something exciting: [idea]
- Give me 10 “what if” scenarios about [topic]
- Explain [topic] in the style of [person, genre or tone]
- Give me a step-by-step plan to create something today using only what I already have [attached or copied and pasted information]
Activating a new creative spark
The first prompt is great for when you’re stuck trying to cook up new ideas for anything, including business concepts, story outlines, or whatever else you’ve been planning for your next project.
The second prompt is a fun experiment that can yield unexpected results depending on the two options you ask ChatGPT to combine. Some fun combinations that immediately come to mind are: Combine Japanese food and Jamaican food into a unique dinner concept and Combine the genres of action and horror into a movie concept. As for the third prompt, that one can result in ChatGPT generating bold ideas that may inspire you to dig deeper into other unconventional projects.
The fourth prompt is a winner since it can help ChatGPT take something that’s tried and true, offer a more enticing alternative, and turn into something new altogether. Going deeper with that prompt by telling the chatbot - Turn this boring idea into something exciting: a guide to powerwalking. This is a fun and practical example of something you can tell ChatGPT to play around with.
The fifth prompt can turn any ChatGPT session into a fun back-and-forth conversation if you’d like to get deeper into whatever results the chatbot presents based on your topic. It’s worth trying this one out for starters: Give me 10 “what if” scenarios about dinosaurs never going extinct and still being alive during modern times.
The sixth prompt can lead ChatGPT to adopt different personas and bring you varied perspectives. Some great examples of that prompt include: Explain climate change like a movie trailer and Explain space travel like a stand-up comedian. And finally, the seventh prompt is great when you’re looking to follow and edit a laid-out plan generated by ChatGPT. Getting rid of the friction that comes with coming up with a step-by-step plan for your next project works great with ChatGPT in your corner.
Bottom line
Abandoning your creative slump and gaining the momentum you need to see a new endeavor through to its end feels amazing. It feels even better when you prompt ChatGPT to lead you down the path of inventiveness and find the inspiration you’ve been craving.
There’s no need to feel stuck when you have ChatGPT’s assistance at the ready once it’s time for you to try something new in an artistic, educational, or business-minded sense.
