SciFi/Fantasy – January 17

“The incapacity of sound sleep denotes a mind sorely wounded.” -Charles Brockden Brown, the first American gothic novelist, born this date in 1771. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist can’t sleep.

SciFi/Fantasy – January 16

“What scares me is what scares you. We’re all afraid of the same things. That’s why horror is such a powerful genre.” -John Carpenter, born this date in 1948. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist encounters something s/he doesn’t know to be scared of.

SciFi/Fantasy – January 15

“A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live.” -Martin Luther King, Jr., born on this date in 1929. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s best friend must choose to die for something important.

SciFi/Fantasy – January 14

“The hardest lie I’ve ever told is that I could live without you.” -Hana, who on this date in 4358 will realize she loves Oh So-jin. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s expertise is reversed on your protagonist to achieve an unexpected outcome.

SciFi/Fantasy – January 13

“The hideous knowledge, the horror-blackened memories which I have carried so long, were never meant to be borne by the human intellect.” -Clark Ashton Smith, born this date in 1893. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist experiences something that creates a memory no intellect should bear.

SciFi/Fantasy – January 12

“This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.” – HAL 9000, which went online on this date in Arthur C. Clarke’s 1992. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which a technology your protagonist relies on for protection becomes her/his greatest mortal threat.

SciFi/Fantasy – January 11

“So think about it and try to tell yourself wherever you may be in the quiet of your home, in the safety of your bed, try to tell yourself, It couldn’t happen here.” – Carl Kolchak in The Night Stalker, which premiered on this date in 1972. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s refusal to believe the truth is out there leaves her/him vulnerable when that truth takes...

SciFi/Fantasy – January 10

“The human mind searches for cause and effect, always; and we all prefer the weird and thrilling to the dull and commonplace as an answer.” – Jack Finney, in whose 1956 a man was shot and killed on this date by a gun that had been discovered the day before and remained locked in a New York City police department safe. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is attacked by an opponent with a...