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Mystery – December 25
Born on this date in 1899, Humphrey Bogart portrayed the stereotypical hard-boiled private eye in many films. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which a group of your protagonist’s friends debate and decide which stereotype your protagonist represents, and which actor best exemplifies that kind of role.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – December 25
“I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people.”- Isaac Newton, born this date in 1642. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your antagonist’s carefully considered analysis of another character’s likely course of action proves horribly mistaken.
read moreKilling clichés
One rule writers learn early is to kill clichés. To prove the point, I will define my terms with a tired trope of the copywriter: cli·ché /klēˈSHā/ Noun: A phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought. A very predictable or unoriginal thing or person. If anyone asks why writers should eliminate clichés from their work, the answer is usually brief, to the point, and wrong: “It’s boring.” Well, not actually wrong … just incomplete. Neurology and psychology explain why clichés bore us: We...
read moreLiterary – December 24
“Victory in combat is like sex with a prostitute. For a moment you forget everything in the sudden physical rush, but then you have to pay your money to the woman showing you the door. You see the dirt on the walls and your sorry image in the mirror.” -Karl Marlantes, born this date in 1944. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist loses because s/he wins.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – December 24
“The love of knowledge is a kind of madness.”C.S. Lewis Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about a discipline about which you’re passionate that few others care about or understand. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist drives everyone else crazy talking about something s/he recently learned.
read moreBig Questions – December 24
Which of your five senses do you most fear losing? 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 24
“Because I was promoted as a sort of a siren and played all those sexy broads, people made the mistake of thinking I was like that off the screen. They couldn’t have been more wrong.” – Ava Gardner, born this date in 1922. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which a person in whom your protagonist is romantically interested makes a faulty assumption about your protagonist because of her/his appearance.
read moreMystery – December 24
42-time best-seller Mary Higgins Clark was born on this date in 1927. For a time, she worked as a Pan Am stewardess. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist describes working at a job no one would expect s/he one did.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – December 24
“The right to take a chance, the right to suffer. The right to be unwise, the right to die. These aims are hateful to the government, which values ever frightened mouse and falling sparrow as equal to a tiger burning bright.”- Fritz Leiber, born this date in 1910. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist discovers that an authority figure s/he thought was invested in your protagonist’s success actually wants to keep your protagonist in a subservient role.
read moreLiterary – December 23
“Romantic vision can also lead one away from certain very hard, ugly truths about life that are important to know.” – Donna Tartt, born this date in 1963. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s idealized notions prevent him or her from recognizing the truth about an uncomfortable situation.
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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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