Romance – December 19

“I want to make people cry even when they don’t understand my words.” – Édith Piaf, born this date in 1915. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist causes someone to cry without speaking any...

Romance – December 18

Premiering on this date in 1892 in St. Petersburg, Russia, The Nutcracker ballet tells the story of a girl who so loves an inanimate object that it comes to life. Writing prompt: Tell the origin story of an object your protagonist loves so much it would come to life if it could.

Romance – December 17

“Duty is what no-one else will do at the moment.” -Penelope Fitzgerald, born this date in 1916. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is forced to do something necessary because no one else will, and as a result achieves the opposite of her/his goal.

Romance – December 16

“It’s discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.” – Noël Coward, born this date in 1899. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist refuses to believe something that’s true.

Romance – December 15

“She said the reason that love is so painful is that it always amounts to two people wanting more than two people can give.” -Edna O’Brien, born this date in 1930. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist finally realizes that a suitor is withholding something the suitor could freely give.

Romance – December 14

On this day in 1967, Dionne Warwick’s version of Hal David and Burt Bacharach’s “I Say a Little Prayer” topped the charts. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist describes the kind of partner that would make her/him feel this way every day of his or her...

Romance – December 13

“You must be absolutely honest and true in the depicting of a totem for meaning is attached to every line.” -Emily Carr, born this date in 1871. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist deliberately mistakes the meaning of a loved one’s most important possession.

Romance – December 12

Old Blue Eyes, Francis Albert Sinatra, was born on this date in 1915. He believed in cocking his hat because “angles are attitudes.” Writing prompt: Write a scene from the point of view of your protagonist’s romantic target or partner in which s/he describes your protagonist’s angles to someone other than your protagonist.