Blog
Big Questions – January 31
What scares 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 Unsplash, the internet’s source of freely-usable images.
read moreRomance – January 31
“Every moment of one’s existence one is growing into more or retreating into less. One is always living a little more or dying a little bit.” -Norman Mailer, born this date in 1923. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must choose between growing and living, or retreating and dying, a little bit.
read moreMystery – January 31
“Anyone can love a perfect place. Loving Baltimore takes some resilience.”- Laura Lippman, born this date in 1959 (the same day on which Homicide: Life on the Street — based on a book about Baltimore — premiered in 1993). Writing prompt: In your protagonist’s voice, describe a place s/he loves that everyone else finds a little less than perfect.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – January 31
“I think we shrink from the immensity of the purpose we are here for.” -Norman Mailer, born on this date in 1923. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist shrinks before the immensity of her/his purpose.
read moreSecondary – January 31
In Zane Gray’s best-known novel, Riders of the Purple Sage, he wrote, “At the end of the day faith is a funny thing.” He was born on this date in 1872 and started writing after studying dentistry on a baseball scholarship at Penn. Write your best definition of faith.
read morePrimary – January 31
3M began selling Scotch tape on this date in 1930. Describe why you’d like to leave behind something that’s sticking to you right now.
read moreLiterary – January 30
“Finding is losing something else. I think about, perhaps even mourn, what I lost to find this.” From “Loading Mercury with a Pitchfork” by Richard Gary Brautigan, born this date in 1935. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist loses something important because s/he finds something else.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – January 30
“Life is either a great adventure or nothing.”Helen Keller Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about the greatest adventure you’ve had to date. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist stumbles on his/her first step to a planned great adventure.
read moreBig Questions – January 30
If you were going to be away from home for months on a trip, what would you take with you besides your daily necessities? 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....
read moreRomance – January 30
Each time I see you againI fall to piecesHow can I be just your friend? – Patsy Cline, whose “I Fall to Pieces” was released on this date in 1961 before becoming Billboard’s song of that year. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist encounters her/his long-lost true love while in the company of a lesser romantic partner.
read more
David B. Schlosser is an author of award-winning fiction and non-fiction, and an editor of award-winning fiction and non-fiction.
Read More...