SciFi/Fantasy – January 27

In the midst of the word he was trying to say,In the midst of his laughter and glee,He had softly and suddenly vanished away—For the Snark was a Boojum, you see. – Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, born this date in 1832. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which nonsense reveals more about what’s going on for the characters than their actual circumstances.

SciFi/Fantasy – January 26

“This story is about love, which means that it is also about hate.” -Philip José Farmer, born on this date in 1918. Writing prompt: Write a scene exploring your protagonist’s most vexing duality.

SciFi/Fantasy – January 25

“Men have an extraordinarily erroneous opinion of their position in nature.” -William Somerset Maugham, born this date in 1874. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s erroneous opinion of her/his position in nature puts someone else in mortal danger.

SciFi/Fantasy – January 24

“The way was the strangest she had ever known. There was, she thought, no such passage in all the world save here.” -Catherine Leigh Moore, born this date in 1911. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must travel through a passage unlike any other in her/his world.

SciFi/Fantasy – January 23

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time . . . like tears in rain. . . . Time to die.” – Rutger Hauer, born this date in 1944. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your antagonist proves to be as — if not more — human...

SciFi/Fantasy – January 22

“Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.” -Robert E. Howard, born this date in 1906. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is treated discourteously by a person your protag believes to be much weaker.

SciFi/Fantasy – January 21

This date marks two milestones in transportation history: In 1954, the first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, launched in Connecticut; in 1976, the world’s first and only supersonic passenger plane, the Concorde, entered service in Europe. Writing prompt: Write a scene that demonstrates how citizens of the world you’ve created perceive a revolution in transportation that radically changed their...

SciFi/Fantasy – January 20

On this date in Spider and Jeanne Robinson’s 2065, a solar flare alert is issued to the guests of the Shimizu Hotel. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is warned of an impending natural disaster about which your protag can do nothing.