Journaling + Fiction – Valentine’s Day

“When people talk, listen completely.”Ernest Hemingway Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about how you made the person with whom you were talking feel the last time you didn’t listen completely. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is talking but not being heard.

Journaling + Fiction – February 13

“The integrity of men is to be measured by their conduct, not by their professions.”Junius Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about a situation in which you were surprised by the integrity (or lack of it) of someone doing a job for you. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is put in jeopardy by a colleague’s lack of integrity.

Journaling + Fiction – February 12

“Be curious, not judgmental.”Walt Whitman Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about the important distinctions between curiosity and judgment. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s lack of curiosity causes him/her to miss the opportunity to make a good judgment.

Journaling + Fiction – February 11

“When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.”Willie Nelson Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about something you now consider a blessing that didn’t originally seem to be a positive development. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist refuses to see a blessing for what it is.

Journaling + Fiction – February 10

“Rashness belongs to youth; prudence to old age.”Marcus Tullius Cicero Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about a circumstance in which you responded with greater wisdom because of prior experience responding differently to a similar circumstance. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist places a loved one in peril because s/he didn’t earn wisdom from similar...

Journaling + Fiction – February 9

“If you aren’t at the table, you’re on the menu.”Ann Richards Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about a situation in which you were disadvantaged because you did not know what role you were playing in the moment. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist discovers s/he is not in the power position s/he’d assumed.

Journaling + Writing – February 8

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, it’s also what it takes to sit down and listen.”Winston Churchill Journal prompt: Reflect on your previous journal entries and spend at least 20 minutes writing about a time you learned more by speaking than by listening. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist talk to disguise his/her fear.

Journaling + Fiction – February 7

“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”Robert A. Heinlein Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about your feelings following an experience in which you put someone else’s happiness ahead of yours. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist fails to realize another person is expressing love for your...