SciFi/Fantasy – November 26

“History is, after all, based on people’s recollections, which change with time.”- Frederik Pohl, born this date in 1919. Writing prompt: Imagine a scene in which your protagonist triumphs over your antagonist, and then write that scene from the perspective of your antagonist.

SciFi/Fantasy – November 25

“I have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which, when looked at in the right way did not become still more complicated.”- Poul Anderson, born this date in 1926. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s simple analysis of, and response to, a problem ends up making the problem worse.

SciFi/Fantasy – November 24

“I am but a sapling, yet already I have become proficient in the reading of the First Language, in the rustles and whispers of the Second Language, and even a bit in the vast soundless waves of the Inner Voice with its meanings from beyond the sky.” The Terran Empire will be declared on this date in Don Sakers’ 2153. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist learns something...

SciFi/Fantasy – November 23

“The least important things, sometimes, my dear boy, lead to the greatest discoveries.”- The first Doctor, who appeared on this date in 1963 when BBC broadcast the first episode of Doctor Who. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist discovers an unimportant item that will make the difference between success and failure in the climax.

SciFi/Fantasy – November 22

“You get trapped by stories.”- Terry Gilliam, born this date in 1940. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is trapped in a dangerous situation by nothing more than a story.

SciFi/Fantasy – November 21

“Have you never wanted to do anything that was dangerous? Where should we be if no one tried to find out what lies beyond? Have you never wanted to look beyond the clouds and the stars, or to know what causes the trees to bud? And what changes the darkness into light?”- Dr. Henry Frankenstein in the first film version of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus,...

SciFi/Fantasy – November 20

“The history of astronomy is a history of receding horizons.”- Edwin Hubble, born this date in 1889. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist fails at an important task because s/he cannot see as far into the past as your protagonist hopes.

SciFi/Fantasy – November 19

“No part of the highlands of Peru has been better defended by natural bulwarks—a stupendous canyon whose rim is more than a mile above the river, whose rock is granite, and whose precipices are frequently a thousand feet sheer.”- Hiram Bingham, born this date in 1875, describing the Incan city of Machu Picchu, which he is credited with discovering. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist...