Mystery – January 18

“We need to have a talk on the subject of what’s yours and what’s mine.”- Stieg Larsson’s Mikael Blomkvist, born this date in 1960. Writing prompt: Write such a dialogue between your protagonist and someone who’s unclear on the matter.

Mystery – January 17

“I have spent the best years of my life giving people the lighter pleasures, helping them have a good time, and all I get is abuse, the existence of a hunted man.”- Al Capone, born this date in 1899. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your antagonist’s downfall occurs because of something relatively insignificant.

Mystery – January 16

“Artists are always good for conversation, so long as you want to talk about their art.”- Craig Johnson, born this date in 1961. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist tries to have a conversation with someone who wants to talk about anything else.

Mystery – January 15

“A riot is the language of the unheard.”- Martin Luther King, Jr., born this date in 1929. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which a conversation turns violent because one person can’t understand what the other is saying.

Mystery – January 14

“The essence of fascism is to make laws forbidding everything and then enforce them selectively against your enemies.”- John Lescroart, born this date in 1948. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist manipulates the outcome of a conflict by selectively enforcing rules to favor one of the participants.

Mystery – January 13

“Nouns and verbs are the guts of the language. Beware of covering up with adjectives and adverbs.”- A.B. Guthrie, Jr., born this date in 1901. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which a person’s overly descriptive language persuades your protagonist that the person is hiding something.

Mystery – January 12

“It was a great game, and exciting and dramatic and even at times tragic — but funny it emphatically was not.”- John Cecil Masterman, author of An Oxford Tragedy among several acclaimed mystery novels and head of the Twenty Committee, born this date in 1891. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist fails to find any humor in another person’s wit.

Mystery – January 11

“There is no trap so deadly as the trap you set for yourself.”- Raymond Chandler, who met Dashiell Hammett at a dinner for contributors to Black Mask on this date in 1936. Writing prompt: Write a scene that foreshadows a rivalry between two great talents.