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Literary – April 22
“The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.” -Vladimir Nabokov, born this date in 1899. Writing prompt: Describe your protagonist’s thought process during a time when s/he fallaciously reasoned from a small detail to a great – and mistaken – understanding.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – April 22
“A sense of humor, being born of perspective, bears a near kinship to philosophy; each is the soul of the other.”Will Durant Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about a time humor helped you through a difficult moment. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which new information inverts your protagonist’s perspective on a prior serious event.
read moreBig Questions – April 22
What one thing would you, if you could, change about your upbringing? 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...
read moreRomance – April 22
“People, you know, are always imagining and inventing reasons for their opinions and conduct.” -Henry Fielding, born this date in 1707. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which a trusted friend of your protagonist tries to persuade your protagonist that a potential romantic interest is unsuitable because of socioeconomic class differences between them.
read moreMystery – April 22
“We don’t appreciate the value of humor sometimes.”- Janet Evanovich, born this date in 1943. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist cannot see the amusement value in circumstances everyone else considers hilarious.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – April 22
“Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”- J. Robert Oppenheimer, born this date in 1904, at the detonation of the first atomic weapon. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s scheme succeeds so far beyond her/his expectations that your protagonist is humbled as if before a god.
read moreSecondary – April 22
Pulitzer-prize winning novelist Ellen Glasgow, who shared stories of a new and changing post-Civil War US South, was born on this date in 1873. Write a story that will change someone’s mind about a place they don’t like.
read morePrimary – April 22
Americans celebrated Earth Day for the first time on this date in 1970. Describe one thing you would change about the way people live on the earth and what the world would look like if the change occurred.
read moreLiterary – April 21
“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” -Naturalist, author, and Sierra Club co-founder John Muir, born this date in 1838. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s encounter with nature delivers an unexpected and unpleasant surprise.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – April 21
“Hear the words of prudence, give heed unto her counsels, and store them in thine heart; her maxims are universal, and all the virtues lean upon her; she is the guide and the mistress of human life.”Akhenaten Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about a time you acted without prudence and achieved a positive or successful outcome in spite of it. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist refuses to heed his/her heart’s counsel.
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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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