Romance – December 17

“Duty is what no-one else will do at the moment.” –Penelope Fitzgerald, born this date in 1916. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is forced to do something necessary because no one else will, and as a result achieves the opposite of her/his goal.

Romance – December 16

Noël Coward was born on this date in 1899. He thought it “discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.” Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist refuses to believe something that’s true.

Romance – December 15

“She said the reason that love is so painful is that it always amounts to two people wanting more than two people can give.” –Edna O’Brien, born this date in 1930. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist finally realizes that a suitor is withholding something the suitor could freely...

Romance – December 14

On this day in 1967, Dionne Warwick‘s version of Hal David and Burt Bacharach‘s “I Say a Little Prayer” topped the charts. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist describes the kind of partner that would make her/him feel this way every day of his or her...

Romance – December 13

“You must be absolutely honest and true in the depicting of a totem for meaning is attached to every line.” –Emily Carr, born this date in 1871. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist deliberately mistakes the meaning of a loved one’s most important possession.

Romance – December 12

Old Blue Eyes, Francis Albert Sinatra, was born on this date in 1915. He believed in cocking his hat because “angles are attitudes.” Writing prompt: Write a scene from the point of view of your protagonist’s romantic target or partner in which s/he describes your protagonist’s angles to someone other than your...