SciFi/Fantasy – April 4

“If there is hope it lies in the proles.” – Winston Smith, who on this day in 1984 began illegally recording his thoughts in a diary. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s transgressive thought jeopardizes her/his life.

SciFi/Fantasy – April 3

“The only way to deal with a fool is to let him have his way.” – Gore Vidal, whose Age of Kalki ends on this date with the dawn of the extinction of human life on earth. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s enabler lets your protagonist have her/his way.

SciFi/Fantasy – April 2

“I’m getting too old for this sort of thing.” – “Obi-Wan ‘Ben’ Kenobi,” born this date in 1914 and dead in the year 2000, miserable he would be remembered for Star Wars instead of his many other roles. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist does something entirely out of character for which s/he will be remembered more than anything...

SciFi/Fantasy – April 1

“Make no judgements where you have no compassion.” -Anne McCaffrey, born this date in 1926. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is judged without compassion by someone with great power over your protagonist.

SciFi/Fantasy – March 31

“You’re trying to divide by zero.” On this date in 1951, the Remington Rand Corporation contracted to deliver the first Universal Automatic Computer, or UNIVAC, to the US Census Bureau. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist encounters the original example of a tool or technology that later transformed the world you’re created.

SciFi/Fantasy – March 30

“There is such a thing as anaesthesia of pain, engendered by pain too exquisite to be borne.”- Jack London On this date in 1842, Crawford Long was the first doctor to use anesthetic in surgery. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist suffers through the original, painful version of a relatively common experience in the world you’ve created that used to be excruciatingly unpleasant...

SciFi/Fantasy – March 29

Remember, when you’re feeling very small and insecureHow amazingly unlikely is your birthAnd pray that there’s intelligent life somewhere up in space’Cause there’s bugger-all down here on Earth! – Eric Idle, born this date in 1943, in his performance of Monty Python’s The Galaxy Song. Writing prompt: Describe through your protagonist’s point of view the prevailing...

SciFi/Fantasy – March 28

“We notice things that don’t work. We don’t notice things that do.”- Douglas Adams On this date in 1979, a cooling system failed at the nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which something in the world you’ve created that its inhabitants rarely notice causes utter panic when they do.