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Big Questions – January 7
What becomes of the broken-hearted? 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 – January 7
The Avengers (no, the original) premiered in England on this date in 1961. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must maintain a strictly professional relationship with a person your protagonist finds irresistibly sexy.
read moreMystery – January 7
“At times like this, I wish I was but a simple peasant.”- Inspector Jacques Clouseau, introduced to the world when The Pink Panther premiered on this date in 1964. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which a total fool infuriates your protagonist until the fool causes your protagonist to discover an essential fact.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – January 7
Galileo discovered the four major moons of Jupiter (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto) on this date in 1610. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must accomplish a herculean task using only technology everyone else in the world you’ve created considers hopelessly outdated and obsolete.
read moreSecondary – January 7
Describe your vision of integrity and the best example of it you’ve ever seen.
read morePrimary – January 7
Jacques Montgolfier, who with his brother invented the hot air balloon, was born on this date in 1745. Describe what it would be like to ride in a hot air balloon using all your senses except sight.
read moreLiterary – January 6
On this date in 1878, Carl Sandburg was born. He believed “the secret of happiness is to admire without desiring.” Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s desire makes her/him miserable.
read moreJournaling + Fiction – January 6
“I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.”Abraham Lincoln Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about a time you were shown mercy that you might not have deserved. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist receives justice from a person your protagonist had a chance to show mercy but did not.
read moreBig Questions – January 6
What’s the best practical joke you’ve ever pulled? 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 – January 6
“What most people think of as history is its end product, myth.” – EL Doctorow, born this date in 1931. Writing prompt: Describe an event in your protagonist’s life as it actually occurred, and then as your protagonist has mythologized 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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