Mystery – September 20

Television premieres on this date include Hawaii Five-O (1968), Vega$ (1978), and Spenser: For Hire (1985). Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist finally gets fed up with hearing a colleague’s stupid catch-phrase.

Mystery – September 19

“Travel broadens, they say. My personal experience has been that, in the short term at any rate, it merely flattens, aiming its steam-roller of deadlines and details straight at one’s daily life, leaving a person flat and gasping at its passage.” -Laurie R. King, born this date in 1952. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist packs for a trip s/he doesn’t want to...

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.