Daily, genre-inspired writing prompts for authors, teachers, and journaling
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Literary – Valentine’s Day

The Importance of Being Earnest opened on this date in 1895, staging Oscar Wilde’s story of two women in love with two men who are each pretending to be a third person. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist discovers that the person s/he loves is not the person your protagonist thinks s/he knows.

Journaling + Fiction – Valentine’s Day

“When people talk, listen completely.”Ernest Hemingway Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about how you made the person with whom you were talking feel the last time you didn’t listen completely. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is talking but not being heard.

Big Questions – Valentine’s Day

Does lightning strike twice? 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...

Romance – Valentine’s Day

Charles, Duke of Orleans, wrote the first valentine from captivity in the Tower of London, when he wrote St. Valentine’s Day love poems to his wife during his imprisonment from 1415-1440. Writing prompt: Write a letter from your protagonist’s partner to your protagonist after they have been forcibly separated for a year or more.

Mystery – Valentine’s Day

On this date in 1929, in what became known as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, gunmen believed to be working for Al Capone killed seven members of the rival George “Bugs” Moran gang in a Chicago garage. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist, investigating a brutal murder, discovers a clue suggesting the victim thought the killer was a cop.

SciFi/Fantasy – Valentine’s Day

“Figures don’t lie, but liars figure.” – (quoted by) Robert Heinlein, in whose 1907 on this date was born George Edward Smith. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your antagonist misleads your protagonist with data.

Secondary – Valentine’s Day

Famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass, born on this date in 1818, once said, “A man’s character always takes its hue, more or less, from the form and color of things about him.” Explain why do you agree or disagree with him.

Primary – Valentine’s Day

If you could write a Valentine’s Day card to anyone, what would you write and who would you send it to?

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