Journaling + Fiction – June 26

“The opposite to courage is not cowardice. The opposite to courage is automaton conformity.”Rollo May Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about your experience the first time you remember going along to get along. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist encounters peril because s/he conformed instead of showing courage.

Journaling + Fiction – June 25

“The zipper displaces the button and a man lacks just that much time to think while dressing at dawn, a philosophical hour, and thus a melancholy hour.”Ray Bradbury Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about a device you thought would improve your life but made it worse. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which a device your protagonist procured to surmount a particular barrier makes overcoming...

Journaling + Fiction – June 24

“I, for one, have never met a fanatic with a sense of humor. Nor have I ever known anyone capable of making a joke at his own expense become a fanatic.”Amos Oz Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about what you’ve learned observing someone with no sense of humor. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which an ally skewers your protagonist for taking a subject too...

Journaling + Fiction – June 23

“If the crow speaks to the fox, he speaks to him from the top of the tree.”Charles de Leusse Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about a time you got caught too near someone you knew better than to get close to. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist lures an adversary too close for either’s safety.

Journaling + Fiction – June 22

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”Harold R. McAlindon Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about a trail you felt good to leave. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist leaves a trail that no one follows.

Journaling + Fiction – June 21

“There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.”George Orwell Journal prompt: Reflect on your previous journal entries and spend at least 20 minutes writing about a time you thought you might be going mad because none around you admitted seeing what you saw. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist clings to the truth...

Journaling + Fiction – June 20

“Any person capable of angering you becomes your master.”Epictetus Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about what you learned from an experience when someone made you so angry that their actions controlled you. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your antagonist goads your protagonist into making an existentially dangerous mistake.

Journaling + Fiction – June 19

“The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.”Ferdinand Foch Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about what’s currently kindling in your soul. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist achieves an important goal through sheer burning need to fulfill her/his soul.