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Big Questions – February 3
If you could travel through time to any point in the future or past but could not return, to when would you go? 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...
read moreRomance – February 3
“A real failure does not need an excuse. It is an end in itself.” -Gertrude Stein, born this date in 1874. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s excuse for failure ends up being more embarrassing than the failure itself.
read moreMystery – February 3
I’ve seen lots of funny menSome will rob you with a six-gunAnd some with a fountain pen.- Woody Guthrie describing Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd, born this date in 1904. Writing prompt: Write the scene in which your protagonist earns the nickname s/he most hates.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – February 3
James Michener was born on this date in 1907. When he was growing up, his mother read all of Dickens’ novels aloud to him. In his own Chesapeake, he wrote, “Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.” Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist gives up but then is forced to try again.
read moreSecondary – February 3
Horace Greeley, a crusading newspaper editor who advocated political reform and opposed slavery, and later lost a race for US President, was born this date in 1811. He is most remembered for this quote: “Go West, young man.” What does it mean to you?
read morePrimary – February 3
The first woman to become a recognized doctor, Elizabeth Blackwell, was born on this date in 1821. She was admitted to medical school only because the men already at the school, when offered the chance to reject her, assumed her application was a hoax and jokingly played along. How do you think she felt when she showed up at school the first day?
read moreLiterary – February 2
“My mouth is full of decayed teeth and my soul of decayed ambitions.” -James Joyce, born this date in 1882, in correspondence to his brother. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist denies an obvious physical metaphor for a metaphysical challenge.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – February 2
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”Ralph Waldo Emerson Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about the trail you most want to blaze for others to follow Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist encounters danger because s/he left the trail.
read moreBig Questions – February 2
How lucky are 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 – February 2
Songstress Eva Cassidy was born on this date in 1963. Writing prompt: Listen to her most iconic recording and write a scene in which someone makes your protagonist feel that way.
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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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