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Secondary – January 25
The novelist W. Somerset Maugham was born on this date in 1874. He once said, “The love that lasts longest is the love that is never returned.” What do you think he meant by that?
read morePrimary – January 25
Describe what you think about when you don’t have anything you’re supposed to be thinking about.
read moreLiterary – January 24
Edith Wharton, who famously compared a woman’s interior life to great house full of rooms, was born on this date in 1862. She warned against a “common symptom of immaturity, the dread of doing what has been done before.” Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist decides to do something s/he fears will fail simply because it’s the opposite of what’s caused her/his failures in prior similar circumstances.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – January 24
“It is not enough just to be good. You must be good for something.”Gordon B. Hinckley Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about what you’re best for. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist does something wrong because it seems like the right thing to do in the moment.
read moreBig Questions – January 24
How do you start? 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 images.
read moreRomance – January 24
“Life is always either a tightrope or a feather bed. Give me the tightrope.” – Edith Wharton, born this date in 1862. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must decide between two potential partners — one who would make your protagonist’s life easy, and the other who would make it interesting.
read moreMystery – January 24
Abstract artist Robert Motherwell was born on this date in 1915. Among his paintings is this untitled work from 1967, a memorial tribute to poet and critic Frank O’Hara. Writing prompt: With no context around it to indicate its value, write a scene in which your protagonist encounters this image during the process of his/her investigation of a suspect.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – January 24
“The way was the strangest she had ever known. There was, she thought, no such passage in all the world save here.” -Catherine Leigh Moore, born this date in 1911. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must travel through a passage unlike any other in her/his world.
read moreSecondary – January 24
On this date in 1848, gold was discovered at John Sutter’s mill in California, launching the “Gold Rush” in 1849. Describe a discovery that would make you move a long way and what you’d do when you got there.
read morePrimary – January 24
On this date in 1848, gold was discovered at John Sutter’s mill in California, launching the “Gold Rush” in 1849. What do you think would make a lot of people move a long way today, and why would they 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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