Journaling + Fiction – September 30

“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”Vince Lombardi Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about an experience when you let perfection become the enemy of excellence. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist fails at an important task because s/he won’t stop until achieving perfection.

Journaling + Fiction – September 29

“I value self-discipline, but creating systems that make it next to impossible to misbehave is more reliable than self-control.”Tim Ferriss Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about your experience comparing self-control to an external system of control. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s lack of self-control is frustratingly regulated by a system s/he...

Journaling + Fiction – September 28

“A leader is a dealer in hope.”Napoleon Bonaparte Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about whether hope really can be a strategy. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must rally resistant allies to fight for a lost cause.

Journaling + Fiction – September 27

“We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it.”George Orwell Journal prompt: Reflect on your previous journal entries and spend at least 20 minutes writing about an experience when you were under the power of someone who had no intent of relinquishing it. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist realizes s/he has granted another person power over...

Journaling + Fiction – September 26

“The essential difference between emotion and reason is that emotion leads to action while reason leads to conclusions.”Donald Calne Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about a time when you acted because you thought you’d reached a conclusion but were instead following your emotion. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist acts without...

Journaling + Fiction – September 25

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”Anaïs Nin Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about how you could on this day most expand your life through courage. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist expands through a fight s/he previously shrank from.

Journaling + Fiction – September 24

“The urge to destroy is also a creative urge.”Mikhail Bakunin Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about the most creative destruction you’ve ever undertaken. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must destroy something s/he created to create something better.

Journaling + Fiction – September 23

“It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us. Rather, our concern must be to live while we’re alive – to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are.”Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about whether you’re truly living today. Fiction...