Mystery – September 18

“Missed it by that much.” -Maxwell Smart, who premiered in Get Smart on this date in 1965. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must explain a dramatic failure to a superior.

Mystery – September 17

“Both our opinions are rooted in our experience,” I said. “Both of them are true, it’s just that we’ve had different experiences.” -Robert B. Parker, born this date in 1932. Writing prompt: Describe the same inciting incident in the voices of your protagonist and your antagonist.

Mystery – September 16

“I worry. I mean, little things bother me. I’m a worrier. I mean, little insignificant details — I lose my appetite.” -Lt. Frank Colombo as portrayed by Peter Falk, born this date in 1927. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist annoys someone into a confession.

Mystery – September 15

“Evil is not something superhuman, it’s something less than human.” -Agatha Christie, born this date in 1890. Writing prompt: Write the scene in which your protagonist first encountered pure evil.

Mystery – September 14

Writing prompt: Write the scene from your antagonist’s life that s/he considers to have been her/his most profoundly spiritual event.

Mystery – September 13

Several pioneering crime programs premiered on American television on this date: Banacek in 1972 The Rockford Files and Police Woman in 1974 Law and Order in 1990 Writing prompt: Write the scene in which your protagonist found her/his first inspiration to a career.

Mystery – September 12

“Injustice is relatively easy to bear; what stings is justice.” -HL Mencken, born this date in 1880. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist gets exactly what’s coming to her/him.

Mystery – September 11

On this date in 1971, thieves tunneled into a branch of Lloyd’s bank in London and ransacked the vault’s safe deposit boxes. No one was ever arrested. No one knows everything they stole. Virtually all authorities know about the crime comes from a recording made by a ham radio operator who listened to the communications between the thieves and their lookout as the robbery took place. Writing prompt:...