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Literary – March 10
“I am never at my best in the early morning, especially a cold morning in the Yorkshire spring with a piercing March wind sweeping down from the fells, finding its way inside my clothing, nipping at my nose and ears.” -James Herriot, born this date in 1916. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which a disruption to your protagonist’s morning routine shows your protagonist’s “less than best” side.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – March 10
“It is absurd that a man should rule others, who cannot rule himself.”Latin proverb Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about a situation during which you maintained self-control when it would have been easier to lose it. Fiction writing prompt: Write the scene in which your protagonist first has too much to drink.
read moreBig Questions – March 10
How has the world most changed in the past 100 years? 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 usable...
read moreRomance – March 10
“Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.” -Zelda Fitzgerald, who died on this date in 1948. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist proves him/herself unworthy of another’s love.
read moreMystery – March 10
“There are few problems in this world that cannot be solved by a swift roundhouse kick to the face. In fact, there are none.”- Carlos Ray Norris, better known as Chuck, born this date in 1940. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must physically confront someone who is at least 50% bigger than your protagonist.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – March 10
“Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value: zero.”- Voltaire On this date in 1862, America’s Department of the Treasury issued paper money for the first time. The smallest denomination was $5 (today worth less than a dime);the largest, $1,000 (today worth about the cost of a large value meal at McDonald’s). Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist discovers that money cannot buy any solution to a crisis.
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Killing clichés
One rule writers learn early is to kill clichés. To prove the point, I will define my terms with a tired trope of the copywriter: cli·ché /klēˈSHā/ Noun: A phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought. A very predictable or unoriginal thing or person. If anyone asks why writers should eliminate clichés from their work, the answer is usually brief, to the point, and wrong: “It’s boring.” Well, not actually wrong … just incomplete. Neurology and psychology explain why clichés bore us: We...
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Literary – March 9
Vita Sackville-West, a prolific Victorian novelist and poet and Virginia Woolf’s inspiration for Orlando, was born on this date in 1892. She wrote in 1953, “I have come to the conclusion, after many years of sometimes sad experience, that you cannot come to any conclusion at all.” Writing prompt: Write a scene that decisively concludes on an ambiguous beat.
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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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