ISSUE Nº 176 · 03 NOV 2026 · THE FAILED-PROMPT-IN-CHATGPT EDITION

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Translate a Character's Shopping Basket Into Three Lines of Backstory

Read the weekly shop below as evidence about the person who bought it. Work out what it says about money, time, health, habits, who else lives in the house, and what they were brought up with.

Then write three lines of usable backstory in the character's own terms, each one a fact a writer could put in a scene rather than a summary of their personality. Add two short notes: one detail in the basket that contradicts the rest, and one thing missing that you would expect to see.

Keep it under 200 words. Do not invent a name, a job or a tragedy.

Shopping basket: [paste the list, including brands, quantities and where they shopped]

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Translate a Character's Shopping Basket Into Three Lines of Backstory

the last 24 hours

Translate a Character's Shopping Basket Into Three Lines of Backstory

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promptcrastinate.