History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Fun for Friday: Fantasy Writing Prompts

| August 23, 2019

If you’re looking for some inspiration for fantasy stories, check out this list of 50 fantasy plot ideas. There are a wide range of possibilities here, whether you want to write something short or long. I’m even going to consult this list for poetry ideas, since I’ve got about a week left in my August […]

Fun for Friday: A Three Image Montage

| August 16, 2019

Here are three images (deleted) to put together into some sort of story–a stone staircase leading toward a full moon, a medieval castle perched at the edge of water, and a technological looking labyrinth. Enjoy!

Fun for Friday: Writing Prompts from Bustle

| August 9, 2019

If you’re searching for the perfect prompt to get you going, check out this list of 21 writing prompts from Bustle! While many of them are better suited for novels than short stories, there are plenty of ideas that could work at a variety of lengths!

Fun for Friday: Three Unrelated Things

| August 2, 2019

Today has some unusual and unrelated things to put together for a story or poem. A graffitied room with a blurry person standing behind a graffitied chair beside a table, a mama bear and young bear in the wild, and a cartoonish cityscape.  

Fun For Friday: August 2019 Writing Prompts

| July 26, 2019

It’s nearly August, so it’s time for the August writing prompts! I’m doing something a little different this month–three words for every day! The third column of words contains the prompts I posted last August, while the other two come from other sources. I’m doing a writing challenge in August, and my plan is to […]

Fun for Friday: The Canons of Etymology

| July 19, 2019

When you run across a word that’s really interesting, but you can’t find anything about its etymology, what do you do? Check out these seven canons of etymology for some ideas on how to approach it! While the internet provides etymologies for plenty of words, sometimes it’s fun to try to sort one out yourself, […]

Fun for Friday: Three Strange Things

| July 12, 2019

This week’s three things are a little on the strange side, especially when grouped together. What on Earth (or maybe not on Earth?) could a starscape, a guitarist, and a strange symbol have to do with one another? (Images are a starscape showing a constellation and marking a planet, a white woman with long blonde […]

Fun for Friday: Ridiculous Generators for Story Ideas

| July 5, 2019

It seems like there’s a new ridiculous generator popping up on Facebook every other week these days. They might tell you how to make a B-movie title based on your initials or birthdate or something similar. Sometimes they just give you a new name. Other times, they can suggest to you an entire plot. The […]

Fun for Friday: July 2019 Writing Prompts

| June 28, 2019

It’s nearly July, so it’s time for the July writing prompts! I’m really loving what the random word generator gives me, so here are some more randomly selected words. Use them for a story, poem, or other creative idea! Check back on the last Friday of each month (or occasionally the first day of a […]

Fun for Friday: Writing Prompts on Pinterest

| June 21, 2019

If you’re looking for a great source of a varied bunch of writing prompts, check out Mandy Corine’s Writing Prompts Pinterest! Most of the prompts here are simple suggestions of a scene or snippet, but many of them can be used to flesh out a character, as a warm-up exercise to get started, or even […]