SciFi/Fantasy – December 20

“Beauty and ingenuity beat perfection hands down, every time.”- Nalo Hopkinson, born this date in 1960. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is judged the loser in a contest s/he rightfully won only because the opponent used appearances to win.

SciFi/Fantasy – December 19

“Truth is the one thing you can never intimidate.”- Brandon Sanderson, born this date in 1975. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist fails to intimidate truth and so must deal with its consequences.

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.