Mystery – July 11

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.  It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.  You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” -Atticus Finch in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, published on this date in 1960. Writing prompt: Write a scene in...

SciFi/Fantasy – July 11

“I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.”- Elwyn Brooks White, born this date in 1899. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s plan to take advantage of weather to accomplish a goal fails.

Literary – July 10

“There is no man, however wise, who has not at some period of his youth said things, or lived in a way the consciousness of which is so unpleasant to him in later life that he would gladly, if he could, expunge it from his memory.” -Marcel Proust, born this date in 1871. Writing prompt: Write a scene from your protagonist’s life that s/he would rather forget.

Big Questions – July 10

Of what opportunity did you take advantage yesterday? 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...

Journaling + Fiction – July 10

“A quiet conscience makes one strong!”Anne Frank Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about a strength of conscience others do not notice in you because it’s so quiet. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist refuses to go along to get along without explaining why.

Romance – July 10

“Memory is the way we keep telling ourselves our stories — and telling other people a somewhat different version of our stories.” -Alice Munro, born this date in 1931. Writing prompt: Write the story of your protagonist’s first kiss as s/he tells it to her/his best friend, and then write the same story as your protag tells it to her/his mother.

Mystery – July 10

“It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.” -Sir William Blackstone, born this date in 1723. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must choose between letting a person your protag knows to be guilty go free or implicating a person your protag knows to be innocent.

SciFi/Fantasy – July 10

“I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success…. Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything.”- Nikola Tesla, born this date in 1856. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist realizes that the people for whom your protagonist long endeavored...