Romance – September 20

“Sex appeal is fifty percent what you’ve got and fifty percent what people think you’ve got.” -Sofia Villani Scicolone, better known as Sophia Loren, born this date in 1934. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s romantic partner discovers the 50% s/he thought your protag had doesn’t exist.

Mystery – September 20

Television premieres on this date include Hawaii Five-O (1968), Vega$ (1978), and Spenser: For Hire (1985). Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist finally gets fed up with hearing a colleague’s stupid catch-phrase.

SciFi/Fantasy – September 20

“In real life, the hardest aspect of the battle between good and evil is determining which is which.” -George RR Martin, born this date in 1948. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist discovers s/he made the wrong determination.

Many Beginnings

Many writers start from a brilliant opening line – an inspiration to craft an entire story from a dazzling line of prose. Other writers use the opening line as a placeholder, knowing they will revise or replace it when they finish telling the story. Although I prefer the second approach, there is no wrong or right way to write an opening line – truly, deciding must be the best and worst of times for a...

Literary – September 19

“The true magic of this broken world lay in the ability of the things it contained to vanish, to become so thoroughly lost, that they might never have existed in the first place.” -Michael Chabon in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, published on this date in 2000. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist finds something her/his family considered irretrievably...

Romance – September 19

“History is the study of lies, anyway, because no witness ever recalls events with total accuracy, not even eyewitnesses.” -Nancy Pickard, born this date in 1945. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist recounts an important family story to someone who tells your protag the real story.

Mystery – September 19

“Travel broadens, they say. My personal experience has been that, in the short term at any rate, it merely flattens, aiming its steam-roller of deadlines and details straight at one’s daily life, leaving a person flat and gasping at its passage.” -Laurie R. King, born this date in 1952. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist packs for a trip s/he doesn’t want to...