“Everything becomes symbol and irony when you’ve been betrayed.” -Jay McInerney, in Bright Lights, Big City, born on this date in 1955. Writing prompt: Write a scene in whch your protagonist revisits a place or object that’s important to your protag after being betrayed by the person who made it important.
“Value judgments are destructive to our proper business, which is curiosity and awareness.”John Cage Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about an experience in which you were judged inaccurately or unfairly. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is judged unfairly or inaccurately by a person in a position of authority.
Are we smart enough to know how smart animals are? Journaling prompt: Spend 15-20 minutes writing your answer in the spirit of exploring yourself and the world around you. If you can answer with a simple “yes” or “no,” explain the sources or implications of your response. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene that forces a character in your story to answer the question, or spend 15-20 minutes answering the question...
Posted by
dbschlosser on Jan 13th, 2026 in
Romance |
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Lorrie Moore was born on this date in 1957. One of her characters decides she was not “given the proper tools to make a real life with.” Writing prompt: Write the scene in which your protagonist confronts her/his mother or father, or both, about the tool your protagonist incorrectly believes s/he wasn’t given.
Posted by
dbschlosser on Jan 13th, 2026 in
Mystery |
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“Nouns and verbs are the guts of the language. Beware of covering up with adjectives and adverbs.”- A.B. Guthrie, Jr., born this date in 1901. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which a person’s overly descriptive language persuades your protagonist that the person is hiding something.
“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.
In what era would you most like to live, or have lived? Why?
The Frisbee was developed on this date in 1957, and was originally marketed as the “Pluto Platter” to capitalize on the US obsession with flying saucers, or UFOs. Why do you think there are or are not people on other planets who might visit us?
