History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Fun for Friday: Seasons as Characters

| September 22, 2023

In connection with Monday’s post about seasons in worldbuilding, I’m thinking about seasons as characters. How would you write a character based on spring? Which elements of that season would you emphasize? You could write a character who’s all joy and rebirth and growing things, or you could write a character who’s like torrential downpours […]

Fun for Friday with Instagram Prompts!

| September 15, 2023

It’s time for some more prompts from the DefCon One Instagram account! Write a piece where music impacts the outcome. Write a piece set in the 1980s. Write a piece about a plant with unusual characteristics. Follow the DefCon One Instagram account for writing prompts every other Friday, or check them out when I post them here!

Fun for Friday: List Stories

| September 8, 2023

Here’s a fun writing prompt! Come up with a click-bait style article title that involves a list of top whatever. Then use that to tell a story within the context of the list, with the different items on the list as a sort of header for each section of the story. The format lends itself […]

Fun for Friday: September 2023 Writing Prompts

| September 1, 2023

Welcome to September and this month’s writing prompts! The first column this month is a throwback to my prompts from 2018. Most of the words are September themed, with a chunk that use the letters in the word September. The second column is the optional prompt list from Kick in the Creatives. I’ve changed the […]

Fun for Friday: Dystopian Writing Prompts

| August 25, 2023

If you’re looking for an enormous list of ideas, check out this list of 872 dystopian writing prompts! They aren’t numbered, so it’s harder to use a random number generator to pick one, but you could just scroll to a random point on the list and start reading there! I’m almost overwhelmed by the possibilities […]

Fun for Friday: Writing Prompts from the DefCon One Instagram are Back!

| August 18, 2023

Apparently, I forgot to keep the DefCon One Instagram account prompts on my blog schedule, so I’ve fallen behind. But now, they’re back! Write a piece in which you describe things without using the sense of sight Write a piece about two people putting furniture with a subtext of something else going on between them. […]

Fun for Friday: With Lists of Random Things!

| August 11, 2023

I’m a big fan of random lists, especially as they can be used as writing prompts. So today, here’s a random list generator! By default, it gives you six things, with images. But you can also have it change the number of things it presents, or only get clothing, flowers, or instruments. One way to […]

Fun for Friday: Sci-Fi Tropes!

| August 4, 2023

If you like writing science fiction, check out this list of 101 sci-fi tropes! Sure, you probably don’t want to write a story that just follows the trope precisely, but this list might spark some ideas on ways to subvert the tropes or blend two or more into an interesting mash-up!  

Fun for Friday: August 2023 Writing Prompts!

| July 28, 2023

It’s nearly August (where does the time go?), so it’s time for the August 2023 writing prompts! August is “Smaugust” in the art world, which is a dragon-related challenge. The words in the first column come from @fariis_art‘s Smaugust list for this year. If you want to add another factor to your prompts, keep in […]

Fun for Friday: Random Fun Facts = Writing Prompts?

| July 21, 2023

If you’re looking for a different sort of writing prompt, check out this list of random facts from Cosmo UK. Some of them may be things you already know, while others may be new to you! (I did not know that the Eiffel Tower is not always the same height–not something the French nuns taught […]