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Journaling + Fiction – January 1
“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.”Erich Fromm Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about one or more certainties complicating your creative sensibilities. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist struggles to let go of a certainty.
read moreBig Questions – January 1
For what should you be more grateful? 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 1
“Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer. Only connect, and the beast and the monk, robbed of the isolation that is life to either, will die.” -Edward Morgan Forster, born this date in 1879. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist resolves to better connect with someone who’s equally resolved that s/he will never connect with your protag.
read moreMystery – January 1
“It was like someone else was doing it. I remember I’m looking down at her just before I bring it down and I’m looking at her face . . . she’s so scared . . . but it’s like I had nothing to do with it. It’s like I’m a million miles away.”- Judith Rossner, who was inspired to write Looking For Mr. Goodbar by a crime that occurred on this date in 1973. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist encounters a crime so pointless and tragic that just s/he gives up.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – January 1
“The Queng Ho counted from the instant that a human had first set foot on Old Earth’s moon.” -Vernor Vinge, describing the moment the UNIX operating system began keeping time on this date in 1970. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s life depends on carefully tracking time with no means to do so.
read moreAs, Because, and Since Are Not the Same Words
I did not understand various components of English until I learned Spanish and French.* Similarly, I didn’t think much about three words that English speakers use interchangeably until I worked with people for whom English was not their first language: As Because Since Years editing non-native English speakers’ submissions to engineering and scientific journals and technology conferences taught me to appreciate significant differences among these words. Most of us comfortably use them as synonyms for one another.This creates...
read moreLiterary – December 31
“It’s never the changes we want that change everything.” -Junot Díaz, born this date in 1968. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which a the results of a change your protagonist worked hard to achieve are reversed by a change your protag didn’t expect.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – December 31
“Look at everything as though you are seeing it either for the first or last time, then your time on earth will be filled with glory.”Betty Smith Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about the last time you saw something for the first time. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist sees a valued colleague for what s/he knows will be the last time.
read moreBig Questions – December 31
How will your life be different 365 days from today? 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 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.
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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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