Literary – January 30

“Finding is losing something else. I think about, perhaps even mourn, what I lost to find this.” From “Loading Mercury with a Pitchfork” by Richard Gary Brautigan, born this date in 1935. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist loses something important because s/he finds something else.

Literary – January 29

“Climbing K2 or floating the Grand Canyon in an inner tube; there are some things one would rather have done than do.” -Edward Abbey, born this date in 1927. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must do something s/he will be proud to tell people about, even though s/he actually does not want to do it.

Literary – January 28

David Lodge, who wrote “it is impossible to be excessive in flattery of one’s peers,” was born on this date in 1935. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist proves Lodge wrong.

Literary – January 27

Musical prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on this date in 1756. He believed his ideas flowed best and most abundantly while undertaking boring routines. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which the process of following a daily routine causes your protagonist to unravel a knotty problem.

Literary – January 26

“There is not a physicist in the world who can perceive when a parlor magician palms off playing-cards.” -Charles Hoy Fort, who on this date in 1931 attended the first meeting of the Fortean Society. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s expertise in one area makes it impossible for her/him to see s/he is being fooled in another.

Literary – January 25

“On the outskirts of every agony sits some observant fellow who points.” -Virginia Woolf, born this date in 1882. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which one of your protagonist’s acquaintances describes in detail his/her observations about something your protag would rather not have been noticed.

Literary – January 24

Edith Wharton, who famously compared a woman’s interior life to great house full of rooms, was born on this date in 1862. She warned against a “common symptom of immaturity, the dread of doing what has been done before.” Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist decides to do something s/he fears will fail simply because it’s the opposite of what’s caused her/his failures...

Literary – January 23

Marie-Henri Beyle, better known among his scores of pen names as Stendahl, was born on this date in 1783. The first practitioner of realism in fiction, he was also a voracious plagiarist. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s most loyal friend discovers your protag cheating.