Romance – February 16

Hugh Beaumont was born on this date in 1909. Writing prompt: Write scenes of the same routine conversation — clean your room, what do you want to be when you grow up, that sort of thing — your protagonist has with his/her father at ages 5, 15, and 25.

Romance – February 15

Charles Tiffany was born on this date in 1812. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is surprised when s/he does not receive the extravagant gift s/he expected.

Romance – Valentine’s Day

Charles, Duke of Orleans, wrote the first valentine from captivity in the Tower of London, when he wrote St. Valentine’s Day love poems to his wife during his imprisonment from 1415-1440. Writing prompt: Write a letter from your protagonist’s partner to your protagonist after they have been forcibly separated for a year or more.

Romance – February 13

Grant Wood, most famous for his painting American Gothic, was born on this date in 1891. Writing prompt: From the perspective of your protagonist, what’s happening in this scene, his painting Daughters of the Revolution?

Romance – February 12

Franco Zeffirelli, who became a  movie powerhouse after his version of Romeo and Juliet became an international sensation in 1968, was born on this date in 1923. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s stereotypes of love cause confusion and pain instead of romance.

Romance – February 11

“You must stop worrying about why things happen and wonder what they mean when they do.” -Joy Williams, born this date in 1944. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist fails to understand the importance of an even because s/he is so focused on what s/he did to cause it.