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Literary – April 25
“Is a gesture of charity genuine or is it a kind of deep moral tax write-off?” -Padgett Powell, born this date in 1952. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s act of genuine charity is rejected because the beneficiary suspects your protag’s motives.
read moreBig Questions – April 25
Is it better to seek cultural recommendations from people your own age or people younger or older than you? 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...
read moreJournaling + Fiction – April 25
“I’ve been making a list of the things they don’t teach you at school. They don’t teach you how to love somebody.”Neil Gaiman Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about what you learned after expressing love for someone in a way the recipient didn’t appreciate. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist finds exactly the wrong way to express love for someone else.
read moreRomance – April 25
Ella Fitzgerald was born on this date in 1917. Among her countless hits is her version of Misty: Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist experiences the emotions of this...
read moreMystery – April 25
On this date in 1939, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics No. 27. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which a deadly vigilante confronts your protagonist.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – April 25
“Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science.”- Edwin Powell Hubble, namesake of the telescope released into orbit by Space Shuttle Discovery on this date in 1990. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist discovers an unsettling truth while using the method or technology enabling her/his culture to see as far into the past as possible.
read moreSecondary – April 25
On this date in 1507, Martin Waldseemuller published a map book naming a newly discovered continent “America” after Amerigo Vespucci, whom Waldseemuller believed had discovered it. If you could choose any one thing in the universe to be mistakenly named after you, what would you choose and why?
read morePrimary – April 25
Guglielmo Marconi, generally credited with inventing radio communications, was born on this date in 1874. If you could invent any current or past form of communication, which would you choose to invent and why?
read moreLiterary – April 24
“The poem is a little myth of man’s capacity of making life meaningful.” -Robert Penn Warren, the only person to win Pulitzer Prizes for both fiction and poetry, born this date in 1905. Writing prompt: From your protagonist’s point of view, write a poem about what makes your protag’s life most meaningful.
read moreBig Questions – April 24
What pest would you eradicate if you could? 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...
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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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