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Romance – December 31
“I don’t know that love changes. People change. Circumstances change.” -Nicholas Sparks, born this date in 1965. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s love must overcome a changed circumstance.
read moreMystery – December 31
Bill Vaughn said, “Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up late on New Year’s Eve. Middle age is when you’re forced to.” Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your antagonist tells another character about an important event or object that appears utterly different to him or her from the perspective of youth and maturity.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – December 31
“That was the difference between a hero and a villain, a soldier and a murderer, a victory and a crime. Which side of a river you called home.”- Joe Abercrombie, born this date in 1974. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist realizes s/he’s dining with people who would consider her/his greatest triumph a total disaster.
read moreLiterary – December 30
“An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy.” – Rudyard Kipling, born this date in 1865. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s mother uses a minimum of words and actions to make clear her opinion that your protag is following the wrong course.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – December 30
“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”Melody Beattie Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about your vision for tomorrow. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist learns an important fact that helps him/her make sense of a previously inexplicable tragedy in his/her past.
read moreBig Questions – December 30
Which superhero does your daily identity hide from the public? 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 30
“The silliest woman can manage a clever man; but it needs a very clever woman to manage a fool.” – Rudyard Kipling, born this date in 1865. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist tries to get what s/he wants by playing dumb, and fails.
read moreMystery – December 30
Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin married Percy Bysshe Shelley on this date in 1816, 2.5 years after eloping. She once said, “The same energy of character which renders a man a daring villain would have rendered him useful in society, had that society been well organized.” Writing prompt: Write a scene that reveals what your story’s villain would have done if his/her productive energies had been better directed.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – December 30
“Blame is just a lazy person’s way of making sense of chaos.”- Douglas Coupland, born this date in 1961. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist deflects blame for a mistake s/he made onto a blameless innocent.
read moreLiterary – December 29
Thomas Becket was murdered on this date in 1170. In the 1964 film about his life, the Becket character suggests someone may teach him “humility — a virtue I’ve never really mastered.” Writing prompt: Consider a virtue your protagonist has not mastered and write a scene in which s/he learns its value.
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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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