“My definition of a tragedy is a clash between right and right.” -Amos Oz, born this date in 1939. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist wages a bitter fight against someone who’s as right as s/he is.
Jacob Riis was born on this date in 1849. About him it was said, “He hated passionately all tyrannies, abuses, miseries, and he fought them. He was a terror to the officials and landlords responsible, as he saw it, for the desperate condition of the tenements where the poor lived. He had exposed them in articles, books, and public speeches, and with results.” Writing prompt: Write a scene describing...
Writing prompt: Outline the story that follows this famous opening line: “It was a wrong number that started it, the telephone ringing three times in the dead of night, and the voice on the other end asking for someone he was not.”
Joseph Heller, who famously asked “What does a sane man do in an insane society?”, was born on this date in 1923. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is trapped in an emotional Catch-22: regardless of her/his decision, your protag will devastate her/himself or someone s/he loves.
“Experience is never at bargain price.” -Alice B. Toklas, born this date in 1877. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s mindless choice on an insignificant matter turns into a costly experience.
Duke Ellington was born on this date in 1899. Take the A Train became his band’s signature tune: Writing prompt: Write a scene in which at least three different people hear your protagonist say the same words and interpret those words...
“The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.” -Harper Lee, born this date in 1926. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist goes along with the majority even though his/her conscience demands otherwise.
“The winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.” -Edward Gibbon, born this date in 1737. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist explains a personal failing in terms that deflect responsibility.