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Literary – April 20
Joan Miró was born on this date in 1893. Writing prompt: Describe from your protagonist’s point of view this famous Miro work.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – April 20
“Wise leaders generally have wise counselors because it takes a wise person themselves to distinguish them.”Diogenes Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about what you learned from observing someone you respected surrounding him or herself with people you did not respect. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist realizes all her/his allies lack the wisdom necessary to achieve the scene’s goal.
read moreBig Questions – April 20
Who’s your hero? 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 – April 20
“In LA, you think you’re making something up, but it’s making you up.” -Steve Erickson, born this date in 1950. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s reality is inverted.
read moreMystery – April 20
“It will be found, in fact, that the ingenious are always fanciful, and the truly imaginative never otherwise than analytic.”- Edgar Allan Poe in “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” the prototypical detective story that first appeared in print on this date in 1841. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must suffer an insufferably incompetent law enforcement authority.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – April 20
“Real magic can never be made by offering someone else’s liver. You must tear out your own, and not expect to get it back.”- Peter S. Beagle, born this date in 1939. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must sacrifice a part of him/herself to achieve a goal.
read moreSecondary – April 20
“And it seems to me important for a country, for a nation to certainly know about its glorious achievements but also to know where its ideals failed, in order to keep that from happening again.” -George Takei, born on this date in 1937. Explain what you consider to be the most important failing of your country’s ideals.
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Literary – April 19
On this date in 1987, the first Simpsons cartoon appeared on The Tracey Ullman Show. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist confronts an all-id oaf.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – April 19
“We should always allow some time to elapse, for time discloses the truth.“Lucius Annaeus Seneca Journal prompt: Reflect on your previous journal entries and spend at least 20 minutes writing about a situation that after time turned out differently than you’d originally understood it. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist learns a truth that defies his/her most important memory.
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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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