“Hate is too great a burden to bear.”Martin Luther King, Jr. Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about what hate has achieved for you in your life so far. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is stunned to discover that hate is just one point on the scale of passion.
“The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.”Harriet Beecher Stowe Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing a letter to someone with whom you’ve left unsaid words. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist receives a loved one’s deathbed blast of reality.
“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.”Albert Einstein Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about encountering a thing or idea you did not understand at the time but considered beautiful on first consideration. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist experiences awe when confronted by the incomprehensible.
Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts.Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts.Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me. . .Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.Shel Silverstein Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about what can be that isn’t yet. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist stops listening after the...
“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”Marcus Aurelius Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about an experience when external circumstances disrupted your best-laid plans. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which an unforeseeable event completely ruins your protagonist’s plan to overcome a significant...
“You cannot be fair to others without first being fair to yourself.”Vera Nazarian Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about an experience when you treated someone with more fairness than you would have treated yourself. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist presses an unfair advantage against an ally.
“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.”Brene Brown Journal prompt: Reflect on your previous journal entries and spend at least 20 minutes writing about something you’ve grown to take for granted during the past year. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist loses something s/he did not...
“Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together.”Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about whether society is growing more closely bound together. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist feels trapped by another’s kindness.