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Literary – February 11
Sylvia Plath committed suicide on this date in 1963, aged 30. She demonstrated her poor forecasting skills when she said, “But life is long. And it is the long run that balances the short flare of interest and passion.” Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist tries — and fails — to convince her/himself that a long life will balance a moment of agony.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – February 11
“When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.”Willie Nelson Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about something you now consider a blessing that didn’t originally seem to be a positive development. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist refuses to see a blessing for what it is.
read moreBig Questions – February 11
Who started the last argument you engaged in? 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 – February 11
“You must stop worrying about why things happen and wonder what they mean when they do.” -Joy Williams, born this date in 1944. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist fails to understand an event’s importance because s/he is so focused on what s/he did to cause it.
read moreMystery – February 11
“A parachute not opening … that’s a way to die. Getting caught in the gears of a combine … having your nuts bit off by a Laplander, that’s the way I wanna go!”- Lt. Frank Drebin as portrayed by Leslie Nielsen, born this date in 1926. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist recounts a person’s undignified demise to a group of friends at a party.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – February 11
“I am not what you call a civilized man! I have done with society entirely, for reasons which I alone have the right of appreciating. I do not, therefore, obey its laws, and I desire you never to allude to them before me again!” – Captain Nemo, who on this date in Jules Verne’s 1868 piloted the Nautilus into the Mediterranean Sea through the Arabian Tunnel. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist starts a journey in an incomprehensible vehicle.
read moreSecondary – February 11
If you knew you could not fail at one thing, what one thing would you attempt and why?
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Don’t Envy – Improve
A few years ago, when I finished Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin while doing the eleventythousandth revision of my own novel manuscript, I closed her book and looked at mine and thought, “Why bother?” The bother is that I’ve got my own story to tell. It’s not Atwood’s story, or Melville’s or Twain’s, or even yours. You’ve got your own story, too. Because it’s your story, the issue isn’t whether you write as well as Hemingway or Fitzgerald or King or Roberts or anyone else whom you admire or sells bigger. The issue is whether you can tell...
read moreLiterary – February 10
“Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us.” -Boris Pasternak, born this date in 1890. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is forced to celebrate a surprise s/he secretly loathes.
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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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