Journaling + Fiction – December 10

“Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void but out of chaos.”Mary Shelley Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about the best thing you ever created from chaos. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist successfully improvises through total chaos.

Journaling + Fiction – December 9

Hope is the thing with feathersThat perches in the soulAnd sings the tune without the wordsAnd never stops at all.Emily Dickinson Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about your song that never stops. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s song of hope stops playing.

Journaling + Fiction – December 8

“Sins cannot be undone, only forgiven.”Igor Stravinsky Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about whether you’ve ever successfully undone a sin you’ve committed. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist commits a worse sin while trying to undo another one.

Journaling + Fiction – December 7

“I don’t think it’s fair that I’m living for something I can’t even define. “Ani DiFranco Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about whether your reason for living is fair to you. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist realizes s/he doesn’t understand what s/he’s been fighting for.

Journaling + Fiction – December 6

“Now that we are all so smart, we don’t easily find resolutions.”Dejan Stojanović Journal prompt: Reflect on your previous journal entries and spend at least 20 minutes writing about what you’ve persuaded yourself is the reason you’re not where you want to be. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist talks her/himself out of the right decision for all the right...

Journaling + Fiction – December 5

“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.”Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about a moment when you were able to cover a failed intent with simple kindness. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s frustration at failing to achieve a grand intention causes your protagonist to miss a...

Journaling + Fiction – December 4

“Do,” said Louisa finally, “whatever you can’t not do.”David Mitchell Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about the impact on others of what you can’t not do. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist tries but fails to suppress the imperative of what s/he can’t not do.

Journaling + Fiction – December 3

“Being right keeps you in place. Being wrong forces you to explore.”Steven Johnson Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about a time in your life when being wrong turned out to be the solution. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist finds the right answer in the wrong place.