Journaling + Fiction – December 29

“Whatever you are, be a good one.”Abraham Lincoln Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about what you are. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist realizes s/he isn’t as good as s/he thinks s/he is being what s/he is.

Journaling + Fiction – December 28

“A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.”Max Lucado Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about the most counterintuitive leadership technique you’ve encountered. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is forced to lead from an unexpected position.

Journaling + Fiction – December 27

“His resolve is not to seem, but to be, the best.”Aeschylus Journal prompt: Reflect on your previous journal entries and spend at least 20 minutes writing about what change you’ll make in the new year to transcend merely seeming to be the best. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist proves the best in a crowded field.

Journaling + Fiction – December 26

“You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.”Woodrow Wilson Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about how you’ll most enrich the world during your life. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which an ally must remind your protagonist of your protagonist’s errand in the world.

Journaling + Fiction – December 25

“Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.”Eleanor Roosevelt Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about the worst criticism you received for doing the right thing. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist doesn’t do the right thing out of fear of being criticized.

Journaling + Fiction – December 24

“The love of knowledge is a kind of madness.”C.S. Lewis Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about a discipline about which you’re passionate that few others care about or understand. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist drives everyone else crazy talking about something s/he recently learned.

Journaling + Fiction – December 23

“Perfect may not always be pretty but excellence is always elegant.”Janna Cachola Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about the most elegant solution to a problem you’ve ever seen. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist wins ugly.

Journaling + Fiction – December 22

“Timidity is the root of prudence in the majority of men.”Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz Journal prompt: Spend at least 20 minutes writing about something you’re should but are too scared to do. Fiction writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist justifies his/her timidity with prudence.