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Literary – March 29
“George once said to me, ‘If we’d known we were going to be The Beatles we’d have tried harder.’ ” -Eric Idle, born this date in 1943. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist should have tried harder to avoid becoming known for something.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – March 29
“We suffer more in imagination than in reality.”Lucius Annaeus Seneca Journal prompt: Reflect on your previous journal entries and spend at least 20 minutes writing about a time you felt cruelly misjudged and later realized it wasn’t that big a deal. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is paralyzed by imagining worse than the worst that could happen.
read moreBig Questions – March 29
What’s your best method to relieve stress? 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 29
“Don’t leave a piece of jewelry at his house so you can go back and get it later; he may be with his real girlfriend.” -Amy Sedaris, born this date in 1961. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s clever strategy to compel and encounter with a romantic target backfires.
read moreMystery – March 29
“Did you know that darkness has a taste, Grandma?”- Jo Nesbø, born this date in 1960. Writing prompt: Describe the taste of darkness from the point of view of your protagonist.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – March 29
Remember, when you’re feeling very small and insecureHow amazingly unlikely is your birthAnd pray that there’s intelligent life somewhere up in space’Cause there’s bugger-all down here on Earth! – Eric Idle, born this date in 1943, in his performance of Monty Python’s The Galaxy Song. Writing prompt: Describe through your protagonist’s point of view the prevailing perspective on his/her culture’s relative position in the universe.
read moreSecondary – March 29
John Tyler, tenth president of the United States, was born on this date in 1790. He rejected the policies of all the different political groups that supported his election. What’s your opinion about the proper balance between loyalty to your friends and yourself?
read morePrimary – March 29
On this date in 1974, farmers digging a well near Xi’an, China, discovered the soldier-and-horse funerary statues better known as the Terracotta Army. Write a story imagining what you find digging a hole near your school.
read moreLiterary – March 28
Russell Banks was born on this date in 1940. Of his obsession with school buses, Banks said, “From the child’s point of view, it is the first time he leaves home and goes out into the larger world. It is the connecting cord between the family and the outside world and has both positive and negative implications.” Writing prompt: Write the scene of your protagonist leaving for her/his first day at school.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – March 28
“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.”Scott Adams Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about the act of kindness you’ve observed that’s caused the most impressive ripple. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s bacon is saved by a person to whom s/he previosuly extended a kindness your protagonist considered insignificant.
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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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