Blog
Big Questions – December 17
What does your best friend have that you wouldn’t take for love or money? 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...
read moreRomance – December 17
“Duty is what no-one else will do at the moment.” -Penelope Fitzgerald, born this date in 1916. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is forced to do something necessary because no one else will, and as a result achieves the opposite of her/his goal.
read moreMystery – December 17
“I’m not altogether sure I like cast-iron alibis. They’re the sort that sink quickest — to the bottom of the sea.” -Horace Rumpole in a 1979 broadcast of Rumpole of the Bailey, which premiered on the BBC on this date in 1975 and later spawned books based on the same character. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must sink a cast-iron alibi.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – December 17
“If you hunch your shoulders too long against a storm your shoulders will grow bowed.”- Ford Madox Ford, born this date in 1873. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist misses a chance to achieve an important goal because prior experiences closed her/his mind to hope the opportunity ever would come.
read moreSecondary – December 17
Ford Madox Ford was born on this date in 1873. His masterpiece The Good Soldier opens: “This is the saddest story I have ever heard.” Write the saddest story you’ve every heard.
read morePrimary – December 17
On this date in 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first successful flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Describe how it would feel if you were the first person ever to fly.
read moreLiterary – December 16
“Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief.” – Jane Austen, born this date in 1775. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist confuses belief with reality because of a mistaken confidence in her/his abilities.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – December 16
“Magicians are the most honest people in the world; they tell you they’re gonna fool you, and then they do it.”James Randi Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about the last time you got fooled but found the humor in the experience. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your antagonist tells your protagonist that your protagonist is about to get fooled and then proceeds to do it despite your protagonist’s best efforts to detect the deception.
read moreBig Questions – December 16
How much more would you have to earn to take a job you knew you’d like less than your current occupation? 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 – December 16
“It’s discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.” – Noël Coward, born this date in 1899. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist refuses to believe something that’s true.
read more
David B. Schlosser is an author of award-winning fiction and non-fiction, and an editor of award-winning fiction and non-fiction.
Read More...