Mystery – January 27

“A politician will do anything to keep his job.”- William Randolph Hearst, born this date in 1908. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist learns how far a politician will go to avoid losing the next election.

Mystery – January 26

“As I would not wish convicts to lay the foundation of an empire, I think they should ever remain separated from the garrison and other settlers that may come from Europe; and not be allowed to mix with them, even after the seven or fourteen years for which they are transported may be expired.”- Arthur Phillip, the British naval officer charged with leading the First Fleet of ships transporting...

Mystery – January 25

“Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you is to have nothing whatsoever to do with it.”- William Somerset Maugham, born this date in 1874. Writing prompt: Write a scene that forces your protagonist to have something to do with it.

Mystery – January 24

Abstract artist Robert Motherwell was born on this date in 1915. Among his paintings is this untitled work from 1967, a memorial tribute to poet and critic Frank O’Hara. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist encounters this image in the home of a person your protagonist is trying to understand.

Mystery – January 23

“A paperclip can be a wondrous thing.”- MacGyver, as portrayed by Richard Dean Anderson, born this date in 1950. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must improvise an escape using only what s/he normally carries in her/his pockets.

Mystery – January 22

“He felt that the job was not particularly hazardous physically but was incredibly hazardous emotionally and too often led to divorce, alcoholism, and suicide. No, policemen were not danger lovers, they were seekers of the awesome, the incredible, even the unspeakable in human experience. Never mind whether they could interpret, never mind if it was potentially hazardous to the soul. To be there was the...

Mystery – January 21

“For a man of society, even for a civilian, a small Browning was as obligatory and as useless an accessory to his toilet as a tie or a cane.”- Leonid Sobolev in Major Repairs, describing the influence of John Moses Browning, born this date in 1855. Writing prompt: Write the scene that explains the origins of your protagonist’s preferred weapon, style of fighting, or decision to avoid any type of physical...

Mystery – January 20

“We’re all like detectives in life. There’s something at the end of the trail that we’re all looking for.”- David Lynch, born this date in 1946. Writing prompt: Write the scene in which your protagonist took her/his first step at the start of the trail s/he is on.