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Literary – September 29
” ‘Tis the only comfort of the miserable to have partners in their woes.” -Miguel de Cervantes, whose birth is observed on this date although when exactly in 1547 he was born is unknown. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is pressed into reluctant service to comfort an afflicted friend.
read moreBig Questions – September 29
Would taking the less traveled fork really make all the difference? 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 moreJournaling + Fiction – September 29
“I value self-discipline, but creating systems that make it next to impossible to misbehave is more reliable than self-control.”Tim Ferriss Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about your experience comparing self-control to an external system of control. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s lack of self-control is frustratingly regulated by a system s/he devised.
read moreRomance – September 29
“No padlocks, bolts, or bars can secure a maiden better than her own reserve.” -Miguel de Cervantes, whose birth is observed on this date although when exactly in 1547 he was born is unknown. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist misses an opportunity because s/he lacks boldness.
read moreMystery – September 29
“I just get on better when we’ve got a body — a body that died from unnatural causes. That’s all I ask. And we haven’t got a body.” -Inspector Morse in Last Seen Wearing by Colin Dexter, born on this date in 1930. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must prove a crime has actually occurred.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – September 29
Alaric Morgan was born on this date in Katherine Kurtz’s 1091. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist fails to protect a person s/he’s been sworn to defend.
read moreSecondary – September 29
Think about the last person who made you really angry. Write the story of what happened from that person’s perspective.
read morePrimary – September 29
If you were going to start a business, what would you do and why would people want to pay you to do it?
read moreA word about self-publishing for writers so inclined.
The fact that no one in the legacy publishing industry knows what makes a best seller is indisputable. That fact does not mean everyone in the legacy publishing industry is an idiot. Even if J.K. Rowling experienced a dozen rejections before selling Harry Potter, and even if James Redfield self-published and sold more than 80,000 copies of The Celestine Prophecy from the trunk of his car, traditional (sometimes called legacy) publishing remains the surest path to selling large numbers of high–quality books. Thanks to technology, it is no...
read moreLiterary – September 28
What does your protagonist consider the most unforgivable betrayal a friend could commit? Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s sibling, parent, or child commits that transgression.
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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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