Literary – March 24

“It’s much easier to consume the visual image than to read something.” -Lawrence Ferlinghetti, born this date in 1919. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which an image causes your protagonist to offend someone s/he cares about.

Literary – March 23

Joan Crawford was born on this date in 1905. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist confronts a dear friend whose perspective on your protag’s mother is diametrically opposed to your protag’s.

Literary – March 22

“Our pleasures ultimately belong to us, not to the pleasure’s source.” -Billy Collins, born this date in 1941. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which a gift your protagonist gives obviously brings more pleasure to your protagonist than the gift’s recipient.

Literary – March 21

“Words can sting like anything, but silence breaks the heart.” -Phyllis McGinley, born this date in 1905. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist learns that the opposite of love is not hate but indifference.

Literary – March 20

“It’s the choosing that’s important, isn’t it?” -Lois Lowry, born this date in 1937. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which the act of making a choice is more important to your protagonist than the choice or its outcome.

Literary – March 19

“Memories of the past are not memories of facts but memories of your imaginings of the facts.” -Philip Roth, born this date in 1933. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s memories cause her/him to utterly misinterpret something that’s completely clear to everyone else.

Literary – March 18

“Dreams have as much influence as actions.” -Stéphane Mallarmé, the poet who inspired such revolutionary schools of creative arts as Dadaism, Surrealism, and Futurism, and even forecast hypertext, born this date in born 1842. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which a recurring dream causes your protagonist to reconsider the wisdom of her/his action.

Literary – St. Patrick’s Day

“Time moves in one direction, memory in another.” -William Gibson, born this date in 1948. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s memory of an event so fundamentally conflicts with the actual event that the memory prevents your protag from moving forward in time.