SciFi/Fantasy – December 18

“I’ve discovered I’ve got this preoccupation with ordinary people pursued by large forces.”- Steven Spielberg, born this date in 1946. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist fails to escape the largest force that exists in the world you’ve created.

SciFi/Fantasy – December 17

“If you hunch your shoulders too long against a storm your shoulders will grow bowed.”- Ford Madox Ford, born this date in 1873. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist misses a chance to achieve an important goal because prior experiences closed her/his mind to hope the opportunity ever would come.

SciFi/Fantasy – December 16

“In a society of criminals, the innocent man goes to jail.”- Philip K. Dick, born this date in 1928 (the same date as Arthur C. Clarke was born in 1917). Writing prompt: Write a scene in which a technology that was supposed to empower and liberate individuals is used against your protagonist to disempower and constrain him/her.

SciFi/Fantasy – December 15

“Rompu, rompu la murojn inter la popoloj.”- L.L. Zamenhof, born this date in 1859. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s effort to accommodate a different language leads to...

SciFi/Fantasy – December 14

“After there is great trouble among mankind, a greater one is prepared.”- Michel de Nostredame, born this date in 1503. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist learns a hard lesson about trusting someone who claims to know the future.

SciFi/Fantasy – December 13

“We cannot resist the lure of that mortal brilliance. It is its own kind of glamour, that dazzles the senses. And once we have found it, we cannot turn away.”- Emma Bull, born this date in 1954. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist experiences a thing from which s/he cannot turn away.

SciFi/Fantasy – December 12

“I believe in the power of great art to transcend geographical boundaries, political differences and even the restrictions of time.”- Armand Hammer, who on this date in 1980 bought a 36-page Leonardo da Vinci notebook dated to 1508 for $5.28 million. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist learns a painful lesson about how people value and honor the creations of their culture’s...

SciFi/Fantasy – December 11

“After a lifetime of world travel I’ve been fascinated that those in the third world don’t have the same perception of reality that we do.”- Jim Harrison, born this date in 1937. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist and a character from a different culture compare their perceptions of the same object.