“What a man does defiles him, not what is done by others.”- William Golding, born this date in 1911. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist mistakes what she’s done to herself as something her antagonist did to her.
“The phenomenon develops calmly, but it is invisible, unstoppable.”- Jean Bernard Léon Foucault, born this date in 1819. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which a fundamental constant of the world you’ve created prevents your protagonist from achieving an essential goal.
“When I was a boy, my father was a victim of identity theft. The wyden murdered Father, took over his identity, and had Mother killed.”- Damien Nshogoza, born this date in Don Sakers’ 2017. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist realizes a trusted relative is not.
“In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.”- Laurence J. Peter, born this date in 1919. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist fails at the first task after being given an opportunity to advance.
“I have not told half of what I saw.”- Marco Polo, born this date in 1254. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist learns that the oft-repeated tales of an earlier traveler are completely fictitious.
“Though this be madness, yet there is method in it.”- Justin Richards, born this date in 1961. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist realizes that s/he is playing the part of a person doomed to die in one of the most famous stories in the world you’ve created.
“With a history like that, who wants to go back to Earth anyway?”- Dr. Helena Russell, as portrayed by Barbara Bain, who on this date in 1999 was, along with the other 310 residents of Moonbase Alpha and the moon, were blown out of Earth’s orbit by an accident at a lunar nuclear waste dump. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist realizes s/he never again will see the place s/he...
“I am hopeless with gadgets. I can’t even get a ticket to work in one of those confounded machines on the London Underground. And I can hardly put on a kettle, let alone set a video.”- Desmond Llewelyn, born this date in 1914. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is lectured for misusing a tool by the person who gave your protagonist that tool.