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Mystery – June 29
Patrick Kenzie wakes up in a stranger’s apartment on this date in Dennis Lehane’s A Drink Before the War. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist uncovers a much darker crime while failing to find a missing person.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – June 29
“You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.”- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, born this date in 1900. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist tames something considered irredeemably wild by the other people in the world you’ve created.
read moreLiterary – June 28
“All of my misfortunes come from having thought too well of my fellows.” -Jean-Jacques Rousseau, born this date in 1712. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist learns s/he cannot trust the well-intentioned efforts of a close friend.
read moreBig Questions – June 28
What does it all mean? 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 moreJournaling + Fiction – June 28
“The heresy of heresies was common sense.”George Orwell Journal prompt: Reflect on your previous journal entries and spend at least 20 minutes writing about the most conventional wisdom that you have reason to doubt. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist comes to doubt her/his common sense.
read moreRomance – June 28
“Some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle and end.” -Gilda Radner, born this date in 1946. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist realizes something s/he desperately wants to accomplish won’t get done in her/his lifetime.
read moreMystery – June 28
“Propaganda always begins with words, but soon it proceeds to deeds. When there are no facts to support lies, facts must be made.” -Eric Ambler, born this date in 1909. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which a superior orders your protagonist to make facts that support lies.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – June 28
“Some damned foolish thing in the Balkans.” On this date in 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist tries to persuade her/his allies to initiate an action to set in motion an outrageously unlikely chain of events.
read moreWords Not Pages
I frequently hear from writers who are interested in a manuscript review or editing services, or who want to pitch an agent or publisher, and they tell me their book is 200 or 425 or howevermany pages long. When I’m feeling indulgent and patient, I’ll spend some time explaining why I don’t care how many pages their manuscript is – and why they shouldn’t, either. What counts is the number of words in the manuscript, because that’s how “long” the work actually is. Back in the day of Royals and Selectrics, “page” meant “page.” It meant, “About...
read moreLiterary – June 27
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,— When he beats his bars and he would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core…. -Paul Laurence Dunbar, born this date in 1872. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist tries to persuade someone caging your protag that the cage exists even though the captor refuses to see it.
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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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