Overcome Writer’s Block With Plinky Prompts
Do you ever think “Ugh, I’d totally write a new blog post, if I just had something to say?” Or maybe, “I’m sick and tired of writer’s block but I don’t know what to do about it!”
We’ve all been there — those days when the light bulb seems dim, if not burned out. To give you a little creative push and get that writerly mojo flowing again, we’ve added a new service called Plinky.com.
Each weekday, Plinky provides a prompt — like a question or a challenge — and you type in an answer. To keep it interesting, prompts are a mixed bag of fun commands (“Write a haiku about the last meal you ate”) to more thoughtful questions (“What is your favorite summer memory?”)
To get started, sign up for a new account at Plinky. Then, add your WordPress.com blog to your Plinky account, which will let you share your answer. We’re excited to see what you’ll create, and we hope to feature some of the best Plinky answers on WordPress.com. But we can’t feature your Plinky posts without your help: You’ll need to add a “Plinky” tag to your blog post, so that it appears on the Plinky tag page.
Support instructions for using Plinky on your WordPress.com blog.
June 25th, 2010 at 8:05 pm
This is an interesting remedy for bloggers who know they have something they want to say, but do not yet have the memes — or the trained skill — to divine the meaning in their written wants.
Well done!
June 25th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
… and it is not available in German, right?
Hi from Germany, Ruthie
June 25th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Hi Ruthie, no, it’s not.
June 25th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
interesting…ususally my crazy life lends to many writing blog posts…but if my life should ever resemble normalcy, I’ll give it a try!
June 25th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
Ok! Let’s see if that’s good ( I hope it is). I have signed up and I’m ready to go! Off I go POOF!
PS: thanks WP!
June 25th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
Very nice! I sometimes have trouble coming up with new posts. Thanks for the tip!
June 25th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
That sounds interesting. I’ll be sure and check it out. Thanks!
June 25th, 2010 at 8:44 pm
I don’t like linking accounts to other sites b/c I can’t be sure my info is kept private by all parties (Facebook, Twitter, etc), but it’s an interesting thought.
June 25th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Love this! Sometimes a little kick is all you need.
June 25th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
I would love to try out this. Sounds interesting and definitely worth taking a shot.
June 25th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
How innovative is that!!! Am signing up already!!!
June 25th, 2010 at 9:06 pm
What a great idea!
June 25th, 2010 at 9:10 pm
THANK YOU! I was having one of those days today!
June 25th, 2010 at 9:10 pm
this is doubly awesome upon awesomeness!! especially since I’ve challenged myself recently to write more eloquently to get on the major boards. You have made my day good when it was going so bad! thank you again WP!
June 25th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
Sounds great! I’m going to try it out right now.
Thanks for the update.
June 25th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
I rarely have writers block, but I signed up anyway. It sounds like fun. Thanks!
June 25th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Neato!
June 25th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
That sounds awesome- it’s been awhile since my last blog post!
June 25th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
Now I can get rid of my “Will Work For Food For Thought” cardboard sign.
Petty cool.
June 25th, 2010 at 10:13 pm
I will make sure to check this site because sometimes I don’t know what to write about.
June 25th, 2010 at 10:19 pm
Signed up. Thanks for this!
June 25th, 2010 at 10:21 pm
Very very nice! I like it very much. Good ideas!
June 25th, 2010 at 10:29 pm
Initially, I was skeptical about this. But after going to the site, I can see that it will be an effective tool for dealing with writers block. Great idea!
June 25th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
What a brilliant idea! Kudos to whoever came up with it! But seriously…Plinky??
June 25th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
It’s good to learn some thing new,
Even if it’s about a haiku
Now what shall I do .
I think I need this plinky !
June 25th, 2010 at 10:52 pm
That sounds like a great idea. I know that as an artist, it has always helped me to have a theme like they give you in school.
June 25th, 2010 at 11:33 pm
Can users post directly from Plinky to WordPress.com?
June 25th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
Overcome what with a what now?
June 25th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
well… I am not so sure..
Yes, indeed it looks attraktive and fun, but are we not writing enough notes already in so many sketch notebooks? so much that we do not find them just a few days later, but keep buying notebooks because the paper feels so good and one is ALWAYS expecting some ‘plinky’ to pop along sometime, somewhere?
(had immediately my thoughts about the REAL reason for yet another internet-toy, but in the mean time even answered my first question)
perhaps the meanest, most effective and most wonderful virus to have overwhelmed the human race in the last 50 or 100 years: communication
so… keep the innovation up, WP (or at least the expansion)
June 26th, 2010 at 12:13 am
This seems like a great idea to deal with writer’s block. We all get it sometimes.
June 26th, 2010 at 12:17 am
Very nice! Will sign up right away:)
June 26th, 2010 at 12:20 am
Awesome idea
June 26th, 2010 at 12:43 am
Thanks so much for this resource. I love the idea and look forward to writing more blogs!
June 26th, 2010 at 12:48 am
wow! you guys just keep it comin’!
June 26th, 2010 at 1:25 am
i’ve been a member of plinky for a while. i believe they are not going to be adding any (new) more prompts to focus on their new project. the olds ones or whatever they have left are cool though. it is a nice service.
June 26th, 2010 at 2:08 am
I like the idea of being given a random topic and sticking with it, even though sometimes it might be a bit out of the blue. I think by constraining yourself within certain boundaries, you can actually become more creative. I find writer’s block strikes when you sit down and think to yourself “I could could write about ANYTHING in the world right now, why can’t I think of something”, so if something like this could give you a push in the right direction, then it’s great
June 26th, 2010 at 2:11 am
Can it also write codes? I am writing some code and I am facing “Writer’s block”! :p
June 26th, 2010 at 2:19 am
This is the best thing I’ve read all week! I usually have trouble coming up with new posts so this should help a good deal. Thanks, WP just keeps getting better and better.
June 26th, 2010 at 2:33 am
This is kind of like formspring.
June 26th, 2010 at 2:42 am
How did they come up with the name, Plinky? Do you know. Sounds interesting.
June 26th, 2010 at 2:49 am
Ha, I came upon this at the right time. I felt I was going to have writers blog for a while, but now that there’s Plinky, I’ll look at those prompts for wacky ideas.
June 26th, 2010 at 3:18 am
Interesting…will have to check it out.
June 26th, 2010 at 3:20 am
Being away for nearly two months, this should help!
June 26th, 2010 at 3:44 am
Awesome. Will try.
June 26th, 2010 at 4:12 am
I’m a poet and now I wont have to go roaming around the streets looking for inspiration… thnxxx…
June 26th, 2010 at 4:49 am
““Ugh, I’d totally write a new blog post, if I just had something to say?””
Well, that’s a little tragic! What’s someone’s motivation when they don’t actually have a worthwhile message they’re trying to say but want to post anyway? The impetus of blogging addiction?
One truly thought-provoking, enjoyable or inspiring post is better than countless “haikus about the last meal you ate”.
Quality is better than quantity.
June 26th, 2010 at 5:04 am
Now thats a Plinky Idea.. Can’t wait to get started..
Cheers..!!
June 26th, 2010 at 5:04 am
Seems like it has the potential to be fun!
June 26th, 2010 at 5:05 am
a brilliant idea!
It’s really good news for the bright weekend!
love it, and thanks
Bravo WordPress
June 26th, 2010 at 5:08 am
This is great! I often suffer from writer’s block, so I know I will be using this a lot!
June 26th, 2010 at 5:28 am
great. i always wanna be a writer and really need some prompts
June 26th, 2010 at 5:52 am
my life is Plinky.com itself, everyday there’s is a (life’s)question or challenge.
But I think this might work for some people.
June 26th, 2010 at 6:16 am
interesting idea ….
would certainly try it
June 26th, 2010 at 6:36 am
Interesting… all righty I’ll give it a try.
June 26th, 2010 at 6:36 am
Will be signing myself up! Fab idea!
June 26th, 2010 at 6:45 am
this is interesting!
June 26th, 2010 at 8:55 am
WOW I loved it. Personally I consider myself Mr. Internet (or computer maybe
) I spend all the time on computer. I don’t have any real friends 
so I like to use social sites to talk to other people (a few of them) and most of the time talking to myself even if I know that no one would see what I write or what I do.
Not long ago my personal blog was private and search engine indexing was disabled. I was talking to myself there and I liked it too much. But, at times, I feel depressed and everything becomes dark. I’m really in a problem. I’m seeking real friendship but I can’t find it anywhere, everyone is thinking about interest and benefiting from others.
Sorry to talk about myself here, sorry to make you here that.
Have a nice weekend.
June 26th, 2010 at 9:18 am
This is interesting, will give Plinky a try… though its not the writer’s block i’m having problem with, it TIME factor… So many things to do, so little time SOB!
June 26th, 2010 at 9:32 am
Great idea! I shall sign up now!
June 26th, 2010 at 9:51 am
Excellent idea! This plinky shall help me save a lot of time that I usually spent staring on the screen of my laptop.
June 26th, 2010 at 9:52 am
If I don’t know what to write about, I take it as a hint that I shouldn’t write at all – I don’t think Plinky would do much more than irritate me with predictable ideas and “meme” style questions. And a haiku? Are you serious? Most of them are absolutely dire.
No, I’ll stick to posting my attempts to educate Americans in the ways of the British (and the occasional obscene sausage photo), thanks!
June 26th, 2010 at 10:14 am
Will definitely give it a try. As always, kudos on this ever expanding creative world. One does wonder, however, what happened to the famous adage ‘if you don’t have anything nice to say…” I’m sure there’s still some wisdom there. Having said that, I’ve posted a cute quote on writer’s block from the Victorian writer George Gissing if anyone’s interested..
June 26th, 2010 at 11:15 am
Neat Idea! A good source of inspiration! Thanks alots!!
June 26th, 2010 at 11:27 am
Very, very cool!!
June 26th, 2010 at 11:49 am
Coming back to German language – we are now already two asking for that … is there a light at the end of the tunnel?
June 26th, 2010 at 11:56 am
Another very helpful tool for WP bloggers everywhere! Thanks!
June 26th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
Very nice!
Thank WP!
June 26th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Really all that I do is watch South Park and I’m back in the game.
June 26th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Did Automattic acquire Plinky from Thing Labs?
June 26th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
Yep.
June 26th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Hi! Thanks for the link to the site! I’ve signed up, but have a question…how do we insert pictures into the post?
June 26th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Hi there — only on some prompts are you allowed to insert photos while you’re in Plinky. But if you share the post to your WordPress blog, you can edit the photo in on WordPress. Let me know if that doesn’t make sense.
June 26th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
really creative!
June 26th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Very nice tool. I will sign up to see if it can help me to have more ideas to promote my products! : P
June 26th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
would be great!
June 26th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
Thanks for that!
June 26th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Hi Joy! Thank you! It made sense!!
June 26th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
I don’t know what to say. I’m drawing a blank.
June 26th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
Thanks for creating this. I’m dealing with a bit of writer’s block. Getting good ideas for my screenplay, but I’m caught up in staring at the TV to watch the World Cup! FYI it’s much more exciting on the Spanish language stations!
June 26th, 2010 at 6:54 pm
Its interesting how one little question can stir up the mental pot. I like plinky and will start using it regularly.
June 26th, 2010 at 7:59 pm
Thank you, I’m just starting and already out of anything to say, lots of thoughts. Thanks
June 26th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
Sounds good, does everyone get the same question each day or are they a bit more random than that?
For example is everyone that signs up going to be blogging about their favourite colour on the same day?
June 28th, 2010 at 5:12 pm
Yep, everyone gets the same question.
June 26th, 2010 at 9:23 pm
I really like this idea! Thank you for give me some cool things to write about!
x
June 27th, 2010 at 1:58 am
Sure, great idea–but it doesn’t actually seem to be every day, though. Friday’s prompt was “Your favorite summer memory,” and Saturday’s prompt seems to be…the same thing. In the list of “all prompts,” there’s a big gap: June 25 is listed, and the previous day from June 25 is April 6 instead of June 24, as would be expected. Hmm….
June 28th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
I said “each weekday” here:
http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2010/06/25/overcome-writers-block-with-plinky-prompts/
The reason you don’t see any new prompts between April and June is because Plinky was being acquired by us during that time. Going forward, you can expect new prompts Monday through Friday of each week.
June 27th, 2010 at 2:26 am
Oh wow this will definitely help me on off days.
June 27th, 2010 at 4:31 am
good news for the silent-at-hand and fuzzy mind
June 27th, 2010 at 9:40 am
It is a welcome development.
June 27th, 2010 at 10:12 am
I will try to sign up, it’s great..
June 27th, 2010 at 11:11 am
This is so awesome! I’m sure it’ll come in handy on those days when you are only coming up with rubbish ideas for your blog
June 27th, 2010 at 11:11 am
Now all I need is someone to give me the extra time to sit down and write!
June 27th, 2010 at 11:50 am
that sounds like a good idea
June 27th, 2010 at 11:55 am
Love the idea! Still, some random part of my mind is saying that if people can’t ever think of anything interesting to write, they shouldn’t have a blog in the first place.
June 27th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Sounds like fun, but I’ve never heard of Plinky. How secure is my password there? I feel really reluctant to put my wordpress passport on any site but this one.
June 28th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Hi — you have to set up an all-new account on Plinky, so you do not use your WordPress password on Plinky.
June 27th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
I read this post, tried Plinky rite away, and fell in love with it instantly. Thank you, Automattic & Plinky!
Here’s my blog post about Plinky:
http://dianaraquest.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/plinky-storms-your-brain-with-question/
I kinda dislike the auto-publish feature since it can’t display the post exactly like the format I used to use in manual publishing. Therefore I prefer answering questions in Plinky, writing a post about it, and then publishing the post manually from Dashboard. Or it’s just me with my OCD, LOL! Either way, it’s indeed a cool tool for writers, bloggers and all those who always find excuses not to write. XD
June 27th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Sensei, I welcome you into my life. Finally, a teacher at our level.
June 27th, 2010 at 4:16 pm
I used plinky for a while when I came back to writing. It is useful. The prompts are simple. It’s up to you to turn them into something.
June 27th, 2010 at 5:10 pm
this is a great idea. My blog is very structured about my experience going through the Lung Transplant process so I am never at a loss for words. But I can see this a wonderful way to get people use to writing on a daily basis.
June 27th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
This Plinky thing is awesome! Thank you so much Ms. for sharing this. What great fun indeed!!!
June 27th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
ahhh writer block does
!!! great post friend…
June 27th, 2010 at 10:39 pm
Great idea – some of us have determined to blog every day this year. I always have lots of ideas swimming around my mind, but they are usually chomping at each other and none will come over even when I dangle a fish. Maybe this will be the occasional tasty fish.
June 28th, 2010 at 12:12 am
I’ve been dying of writer’s block for about a month now… I’m trying to set up a literary blog and when you cannot write, there’s a problem
June 28th, 2010 at 1:06 am
I am excited about having Plinky as a new resource for my writing. I’ve already used it once and it works great to get me writing. Thank you for introducing this!
June 28th, 2010 at 1:44 am
How cool is THIS?!