Daily, genre-inspired writing prompts for authors, teachers, and journaling

Literary – July 9

” ‘Dangerously well’ — what an irony is this: it expresses precisely the doubleness, the paradox, of feeling ‘too well’.” -Oliver Sacks, born this date in 1933. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s sense of feeling too well causes her/him to end up feeling not very well at all.

Big Questions – July 9

Can single people be as happy as people in a romantic relationship? 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...

Journaling + Fiction – July 9

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but building on the new.”Socrates Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about where you should be focusing your energy instead of where you are focusing it. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist squanders all his/her energy on an old fight and has nothing left for the new one.

Romance – July 9

“After forty a woman has to choose between losing her figure or her face. My advice is to keep your face, and stay sitting down.” -Barbara Cartland, born on this date in 1901. Writing prompt: Write the scene in which your protagonist first realizes that age is happening to her/him, too.

Mystery – July 9

“Sometimes there is no darker place than our thoughts, the moonless midnight of the mind.” -Dean Koontz, born this date in 1945. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist, amid a crowd, is alone with her/his most horrifying thought.

SciFi/Fantasy – July 9

“More evil gets done in the name of righteousness than any other way.”- Glen Cook, born this date in 1944. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist commits an evil deed for what s/he believes is the right reason.

Literary – July 8

18-year-old Ernest Hemingway was wounded on this date in 1918 by an Austrian mortar while serving in Italy during World War I. Writing prompt: Write the scene from earlier in your protagonist’s life when the injury that defines him/her occurs.

Big Questions – July 8

What would you do if you knew the person you most love had one month left to live? 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...

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