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Literary – October 4
“You can become a winner only if you are willing to walk over the edge.” -Damon Runyon, born this date in 1880. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist balks at waking over the edge.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – October 4
“The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it.”George Orwell Journal prompt: Reflect on your previous journal entries and spend at least 20 minutes writing about a time when you were excoriated for speaking the truth about a matter of justice. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is shunned for describing objective reality.
read moreBig Questions – October 4
Whose life or lives do you hope to most influence by living your own? Journaling prompt: Spend 15-20 minutes writing your answer in the spirit of exploring yourself and the world around you. If you can answer with a simple “yes” or “no,” explain the sources or implications of your response. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene that forces a character in your story to answer the question, or spend 15-20 minutes answering the question in the voice of a character you want to know more about. Photo from Unsplash, the internet’s source of freely...
read moreRomance – October 4
“He forgot that love, which is a madness, and a scourge, and a fever, and a delusion, and a snare, is also a mystery, and very imperfectly understood by everyone except the individual sufferer who writhes under its tortures.” – Mary Elizabeth Braddon, born this date in 1835. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist and one of her/his romantic partners simultaneously learn that your protagonist is also romantically entangled with a second partner.
read moreMystery – October 4
Talmage Powell — who wrote more than 500 short stories and novels as Robert Hart Davis, Robert Henry, Milton T. Lamb, Milton Land, Jack McCready, Anne Talmage, Dave Sands, and Ellery Queen — was born on this date in 1920. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist discovers that a person of interest answers to several different names.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – October 4
“The world doesn’t need any more mediocrity or hedged bets.”- Anne Rice, born this date in 1941. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is put in mortal peril by a trusted friend’s hedged bet.
read moreSecondary – October 4
Work began on Mount Rushmore on this date in 1927. Make the case for the leader you think deserves to be so honored.
read morePrimary – October 4
Work on Mount Rushmore began on this date in 1927. Explain the characteristics of a public leader who you think deserves to be honored in this way.
read moreLiterary – October 3
“There is no human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise.” -Gore Vidal, born this date in 1925. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which a frenemy of your protagonist achieves something amazing by doing the opposite of what your protagonist advised.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – October 3
“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”Mark Twain Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about a kindness you’ve experienced that crosses all barriers. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist communicates using only a kind act towards someone who otherwise would remain isolated.
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David B. Schlosser is an author of award-winning fiction and non-fiction, and an editor of award-winning fiction and non-fiction.
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