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Romance – April 10
“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.” -Anne Lamott, born this date in 1954. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist grows frustrated doing the right thing because s/he sees no indication of dawn.
read moreMystery – April 10
Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must confront the thing or issue that most terrifies you.
read moreSciFi/Fantasy – April 10
“You see, to be quite frank, Kevin, the fabric of the universe is far from perfect. It was a bit of botched job, you see. We only had seven days to make it.” – Randall, who on this date in 1912 boarded RMS Titanic with the Time Bandits. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must procure a specific item from a location s/he knows is about to experience a catastrophe.
read moreSecondary – April 10
The Great Gatsby was published on this date in 1925. The story paid close attention to the characters’ visions of “the American dream.” Describe what the concept of the American dream means to you today.
read morePrimary – April 10
Anne Lamott, who was born on this date in 1954, tells the story of someone having to complete a huge project about birdwatching. The advice he received was to complete the project “bird by bird.” Describe how you go about completing a big project.
read moreLiterary – April 9
On this date in 1833, the USA’s first tax-supported public library was founded in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Writing prompt: Write a scene that allows your protagonist to contrast his/her attitude about libraries at age 6 and age 36.
read moreBig Questions – April 9
What did you do the last time you felt as if you had no one to talk with? 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 in the voice of a character you want to know more about. Photo from Unsplash, the internet’s source of...
read moreJournaling + Fiction – April 9
“Life is 10 percent what you make it and 90 percent how you take it.”Irving Berlin Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about an even that at the time seemed important or signficant about which you now have a different perspective. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist fails to persuade a loved one to put a relatively minor event into perspective.
read moreRomance – April 9
“The major civilizing force in the world is not religion, it is sex.” – Hugh Hefner, born this date in 1926. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist learns that her/his partner is more interested in pornography than your protag.
read moreMystery – April 9
Writing prompt: Plot the rest of the story that follows this famous opening line: “Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything truly wrong, he was arrested.”
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David B. Schlosser is an author of award-winning fiction and non-fiction, and an editor of award-winning fiction and non-fiction.
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