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Literary – January 30
“Finding is losing something else. I think about, perhaps even mourn, what I lost to find this.” From “Loading Mercury with a Pitchfork” by Richard Gary Brautigan, born this date in 1935. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist loses something important because s/he finds something else.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – January 30
“Life is either a great adventure or nothing.”Helen Keller Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about the greatest adventure you’ve had to date. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist stumbles on his/her first step to a planned great adventure.
read moreBig Questions – January 30
If you were going to be away from home for months on a trip, what would you take with you besides your daily necessities? 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....
read moreRomance – January 30
Each time I see you againI fall to piecesHow can I be just your friend? – Patsy Cline, whose “I Fall to Pieces” was released on this date in 1961 before becoming Billboard’s song of that year. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist encounters her/his long-lost true love while in the company of a lesser romantic partner.
read moreMystery – January 30
“Memory, Agent Starling, is what I have instead of a view.”- Hannibal Lecter in the film version of The Silence of the Lambs, which premiered on this date in 1991. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must get information from a person who has not seen the sky in many years, and knows that s/he never will again.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – January 30
“War is the unfolding of miscalculations.” -Barbara Tuchman, born this date in 1912. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which an argument over a minor issue between your protagonist and an authority figure becomes a conflagration because of mutual miscalculations.
read moreSecondary – January 30
“I do not look upon these United States as a finished product. We are still in the making.” -US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, born on this date in 1882. Describe what you think is the biggest unfinished project remaining in the country’s making.
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Bum Glue
In her craft book Write Away: One Novelist’s Approach to Fiction and the Writing Life, Elizabeth George spends an entire chapter on the value of what she calls “bum glue.” She defines it as that which keeps one’s bottom firmly attached to the chair in which one sits while writing. Although bum glue goes by many different names, the vast majority of successful authors confirm – or, at least, confess – it’s the primary differentiator between writing and not writing. Bum glue needs to be applied daily. That’s why Prompt Inspiration sends a...
read moreLiterary – January 29
“Climbing K2 or floating the Grand Canyon in an inner tube; there are some things one would rather have done than do.” -Edward Abbey, born this date in 1927. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must do something s/he will be proud to tell people about, even though s/he actually does not want to do it.
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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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