Literary – July 9

” ‘Dangerously well’ — what an irony is this: it expresses precisely the doubleness, the paradox, of feeling ‘too well’.” -Oliver Sacks, born this date in 1933. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s sense of feeling too well causes her/him to end up feeling not very well at all.

Literary – July 8

18-year-old Ernest Hemingway was wounded on this date in 1918 by an Austrian mortar while serving in Italy during World War I. Writing prompt: Write the scene from earlier in your protagonist’s life when the injury that defines him/her occurs.

Literary – July 7

Marc Chagall was born on this date in 1887. Writing prompt: Describe your protagonist’s response to this Chagall painting: Then describe the same painting from your antagonist’s perspective.

Literary – July 6

“It is the absence of facts that frightens people: the gap you open, into which they pour their fears, fantasies, desires.” -Hilary Mantel, born this date in 1952. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist pours him/herself into a gap in his/her knowledge.

Literary – July 5

“Silence moves faster when it’s going backward.” -Jean Cocteau, born this date in 1889. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist learns this lesson.

Literary – July 4

“If no one ever took risks, Michaelangelo would have painted the Sistine floor.” -Neil Simon, born this date in 1927. Writing prompt: Write a scene from earlier in your protagonist’s life, when s/he had a chance to take a risk and did not — a decision that has caused regret ever since.

Literary – July 3

“I do not read advertisements. I would spend all of my time wanting things.” -Franz Kafka, born this date in 1883. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist chooses a material possession over an important personal relationship.

Literary – July 2

“Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud.” -Hermann Hesse, born this date in 1877. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist expresses a thought that, in context, appears utterly thoughtless.