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Mystery – December 23
“Well, I’m all broken up over that man’s rights.” -Harry Callahan in Dirty Harry, which premiered on this date in 1971. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must choose between ignoring a person’s civil rights and preventing a crime.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – December 23
“Have you looked in the mirror lately?”- Anung Un Rama, summoned by Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin to East Bromwich on this date in 1944. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which a new acquaintance assumes the worst about your protagonist because of your protagonist’s physical appearance.
read moreSecondary – December 23
In 1620, construction of the first permanent European settlement in what would later become the USA began after the Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Harbor in present-day Massachusetts. If you were building a new community, how would you start? Prompt Inspiration returns next year on 2nd January.
read morePrimary – December 23
The poem we know as “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement C. Moore was published for the first time in the Troy, N.Y., Sentinel on this date in 1823. Explain your favorite thing about the winter holidays. Prompt Inspiration returns next year on 2nd January.
read moreLiterary – December 22
Fyodor Dostoevsky, led to his scheduled execution on this date in 1849, was pardoned at the last moment. On this and other topics, he said, “To live without hope is to cease to live.” Writing prompt: Write a scene in which events cause your protagonist to lose hope.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – December 22
“Timidity is the root of prudence in the majority of men.”Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about something you’re should but are too scared to do. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist justifies his/her timidity with prudence.
read moreBig Questions – December 22
What do you want to be when you grow 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...
read moreRomance – December 22
“Words themselves are all the ghosts we need.” -Donald Harington, born this date in 1935. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which the language a suitor uses to woo your protagonist prompts a traumatic memory.
read moreMystery – December 22
On this date in 1984, Bernard Goetz shot four men attempting to rob him on a New York City subway. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist debates his/her opinion about vigilante justice with a boss who disagrees.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – December 22
“Roswell was a smoke screen — we’ve had half a dozen better salvage operations.”- Deep Throat, in an effort to reveal the truth that aliens were scheduled to begin colonizing Earth on this date in 2012. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist realizes that someone s/he considered a fellow member of her/his species is something else entirely.
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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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