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Journaling + Fiction – January 23
“Those who let things happen usually lose to those who make things happen.”Dave Weinbaum Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about an issue important to you that you’re letting happen rather than making happen. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s passive response to an opportunity lets it slip away.
read moreBig Questions – January 23
Are you experienced? 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 – January 23
Edouard Manet was born on this date in 1832. Writing prompt: Write the scene portrayed in his 1862-3 painting Le déjeuner sur l’herbe in your protagonist’s voice.
read moreMystery – January 23
Richard Dean Anderson — better known as MacGyver — was born on this date in 1950. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must improvise an escape using only what s/he normally carries in her/his pockets.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – January 23
“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time . . . like tears in rain. . . . Time to die.” – Rutger Hauer, born this date in 1944. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your antagonist proves to be as — if not more — human than your protagonist.
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Primary – January 23
Think about the one most important thing you would change about the room where you sleep. Why do you want to make that change?
read moreLiterary – January 22
On this date in 1973, the US Supreme Court invalidated state laws prohibiting abortion in its Roe v. Wade decision. The Supreme Court overturned that decision in its 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s counsel is sought by a pregnant friend desperately seeking support for a decision that runs contrary to your protag’s beliefs.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – January 22
“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist.”Stephen Hawking Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about a question you think doesn’t have an answer. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist fails to see something small but important while because s/he is too focused on something big but unknowable.
read moreBig Questions – January 22
What did you want to be when you grew up? 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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