Mystery – December 31

Bill Vaughn said, “Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up late on New Year’s Eve. Middle age is when you’re forced to.” Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your antagonist tells another character about an important event or object that appears utterly different to him or her from the perspective of youth and maturity.

Mystery – December 30

Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin married Percy Bysshe Shelley on this date in 1816, 2.5 years after eloping. She once said, “The same energy of character which renders a man a daring villain would have rendered him useful in society, had that society been well organized.” Writing prompt: Write a scene that reveals what your story’s villain would have done if his/her productive energies had been better...

Mystery – December 29

“Justice? — You get justice in the next world. In this one you have the law.” -William Gaddis, born this date in 1922. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which the law eliminates your protagonist’s opportunity to do justice.

Mystery – December 28

Habitual and glamorous criminal Jacques “The Man of a Thousand Faces” Mesrine was born on this date in 1936. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must tangle with an outlaw more popular than the law.

Mystery – December 27

Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist plays his favorite game and ends up losing to someone s/he has just taught to play.

Mystery – December 26

On this date in 1996, six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was found slain in the basement  of her family’s house. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which the public and media involve themselves in your protagonist’s life in counterproductive ways.

Mystery – December 25

Born on this date in 1899, Humphrey Bogart portrayed the stereotypical hard-boiled private eye in many films. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which a group of your protagonist’s friends debate and decide which stereotype your protagonist represents, and which actor best exemplifies that kind of role.

Mystery – December 24

42-time best-seller Mary Higgins Clark was born on this date in 1927. For a time, she worked as a Pan Am stewardess. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist describes working at a job no one would expect s/he one did.