Helping Students DevelopCreative WritingIdeas
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Have you ever asked studentsto write a creative story, only to have them stare at you blankly, with no idea what to write about?Sometimes the opposite happens.A student will have too many ideas to narrow down to just one.
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Creative writing exercises canhelp students to:generate ideasget started on a storyimprove their writing skillsfind their voice
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There are many ways students canpractice creative writing.Here are four:1.stream of consciousness2.image prompts3.writing prompts4.co-writing
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A simple way to practice creative writing is tochoose a certain amount of timeand just write.About anything.No pre-planned topic necessary.Set a timer for, say, 15 minutes and have studentswrite, write, write...Try it, they might just surprise you (and themselves)!
1.Stream of Consciousness
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2.Using Image Prompts
Is there a particular picture your students find interesting?It could be...a famous paintinga picture in a magazinea book coveran illustrationa personal photoHave them choose an image and write a story about it,using descriptive details and covering all of the 5 senses.Imagine... and give the image a voice!
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3.Using Writing Prompts
Have students ask someone else to come up with some creative sentences to use as the beginning of their story.For example:"The dog started acting strangely, just after the full moon."or"I had no idea what was in that bag or I never would have opened it."
Sometimes it just takes a few words to spark a student's writing!
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4.Co-Writing
This means having students partner with each other and write together. Many great books and research papers are co-authored.This is a great exercise to generate ideas!Have them brainstorm topics together and bounce ideas off of each other. Once they've decided on a topic, provide other writing tools (graphic organizers, idea webs, character trait sheets) to help them structure their writing piece together.Finally, have them assign each other eitherroles (one person writes, the other edits) orsections (one does the intro & conclusion, the other the body)Try it and see if two minds write better than one!
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Ideas for a Plot
Help students remember experiences they've had. Suggest they create a character that goes through similar experiences like:learning to ride a bikemoving to a new schoolwinning an awardmaking a new friendinterviewing family members
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If a student feels stuck,have him or her...take a few minutes to brainstorm ideaslook around... notice things and people around themIs there an interesting story there?
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Ideas for Characters
If your students are not ready to create their own characters yet, have them includepeople they know in their story.their mothertheir best friendtheir neighbortheir teachereven their dog!
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If They're Still Stuck
Bring up things that wouldn’t normally happen:animals that can talka magical place or faraway worldAsk about a book they’re reading or recently read:Can they write a similar story?Can they write a new ending to the story?
Have them make a list of whatever comes to mindand write it all down.
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Important Tipsfor your students:
1.Have them focus on only one subject2.Suggest they compare this subject, using similes & metaphors3.Encourage them to use descriptive paragraphs to paint a picture
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The end.
More free TEACHING WRITING resources:graphic organizerswriting conventionscritiquing & gradingthe writing processEight-week WRITING courses:elementary schoolmiddle schoolhigh school
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