SciFi/Fantasy – March 17

“Well, ya see, I’m not saying that I’ve been everywhere and I’ve done everything, but I do know it’s a pretty amazing planet we live on here, and a man would have to be some kind of fool to think we’re alone in this universe.” -Jack Burton as portrayed by Kurt Russell, born on this date in 1951. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist experiences the...

Literary – March 17

“Time moves in one direction, memory in another.” -William Gibson, born on this date in 1948. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist realizes that his/her memory of an event so fundamentally conflicts with the actual event that the memory prevents your protag from moving forward in time.

Mystery – March 17

Kurt Russell, born this date in 1951, starred in Escape from New York as Snake Plissken, to whom the movie’s universal greeting was, “I heard you were dead!” Writing prompt: Write a series of dialogues in which your protagonist must dismiss the same, obviously untrue rumor over the course of a story.

Romance – March 17

Nat “King” Cole was born on this date in 1919. Writing prompt: Write descriptive paragraphs about your protagonist based on an adjective beginning with each letter of your protag’s first name.

SciFi/Fantasy – March 16

Alice Hoffman, who mixes fantasy and magic with our reality, was born on this date in 1952. She said, “When all is said and done, the weather and love are the two elements about which one can never be sure.” Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s romantic possibilities proceed inversely to the weather.

Literary – March 16

The first recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature, Rene-Francois-Armand Sully-Prudhomme, was born on this date in 1839. His declared intent was to create “scientific poetry.” Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist makes clear her/his intent to create something similarly internally contradictory.

Mystery – March 16

Erik Estrada was born on this date in 1949. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must accomplish a complicated task with someone who’s always gotten ahead on looks rather than ability.