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Creative writing techniques for kids: a step-by-step guide to writing a story

The way literacy is taught in primary schools has changed radically in the last couple of decades; when I was at school in the 80s we copied from blackboards, had whole hours of handwriting practice and sweated over spellings without any formal teaching of phonics whatsoever. While I think the more structured approach to literacy teaching we see in classrooms today makes learning more fun and accessible, my one worry is that there’s little time left for writing creatively.

When I was at school I adored writing stories – even stories with chapters and illustrations. I know my author brother did too – we found some of his old stories a few years back, and I felt so pleased he’d had the time to write these endless pages of action, adventure, characterisation and twisting plotlines.

As a primary teacher I ensured I would have a week each term when, during literacy sessions, we would focus solely on creating stories. I wasn’t deviating from the curriculum – far from it. During this week children would be consolidating their learning of phonics and  be ‘writing for purpose’, considering carefully the aspects of story and who their audience might be.

It may very well be that your children write stories at home regardless of whether they’re required to for school, because most children have a seemingly natural urge to want to do so from time to time. This is just a little guidance on how you can support them and encourage a more structured approach to their story writing.

Plot planning

Firstly, ask your child where the story is going to take place . It could be somewhere fictional or real, it could be a planet, a country, a town or a house – anywhere! 

Then, ask when the story is taking place – now? In the future? In the past? 

Finally ask what they think is going to happen . Remember that this doesn’t have to be accurate and they don’t have to stick to what they say; many of the best writers say that their plots develop organically as they write. If they do have a firm idea of where they want to go with the plot, though, they can create an outline by completing a story planner, which could look something like this:  

• And finally….

Download a FREE Creative Writing toolkit!

• KS1 & KS2 workbooks
• Bursting with fill-in prompt sheets and inspiring ideas
• Story structure tips, style guides and editing suggestions

Characterisation

Ask your child who is going to be in the story. How do they want their readers to feel about each character? Again, they may want to jot some ideas down. You could make a table for them to help them organise their thoughts, with these headings:  

• Name of character
• Relationship to other characters
• What he/she looks like

Story language

Ask your child to think of some fabulous words to use in their story writing . They might be long words or simple ones, or they might be great descriptive words or words that help create pace and tension. Encourage them to jot these down and refer to the list as they write their story.

Story starters

All writers know that you’ve got to capture the attention of your readers right from the start; you want to make them desperate to read on. Ask your child to think of some good story openers that’ll entice people to find out more. Here are a few examples:

First sentences that are mysterious… Molly had no sense of the day that lay ahead.

Story starters that use language tricks like alliteration… It was damp, dark and dreadfully dusty when Molly entered the house.

Story openers that create tension… Molly could hear her heart beating faster than ever before. Could this really be happening?

Stories that go straight into dialogue… “But I don’t want to go to school, Mummy,” groaned Molly.

Encourage your child to look at some of the books they like to read and see how they begin in order to offer inspiration.

Get writing!

Once they’ve got all of these ideas in place, they can start writing. They could do a draft in the first instance and then a neat, polished version later. They may wish to write in short chapters, use illustrations, or make their own book to write in – let them use their imagination and creativity when it comes to presentation, and make sure you show how much you value the end product by keeping it to read again with the other books in your house.

If your child finds writing a story a little daunting, start with something small from our list of 9 fun writing projects to do with your children .

We also recommend the free art and creative writing challenges on the Night Zookeeper website ; your child will be contributing to a co-created animated television show.

You could also try a great story-making app and get your child writing fiction on their tablet!

Plus, find out how to support storytelling skills for children in EYFS , KS1 , KS2 and KS3 to get them thinking about story elements, plot and character development.

Give your child a headstart

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What is Creative Writing? A Key Piece of the Writer’s Toolbox

Not all writing is the same and there’s a type of writing that has the ability to transport, teach, and inspire others like no other.

Creative writing stands out due to its unique approach and focus on imagination. Here’s how to get started and grow as you explore the broad and beautiful world of creative writing!

What is Creative Writing?

Creative writing is a form of writing that extends beyond the bounds of regular professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature. It is characterized by its emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary tropes or poetic techniques to express ideas in an original and imaginative way.

Creative writing can take on various forms such as:

• short stories
• screenplays

It’s a way for writers to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas in a creative, often symbolic, way . It’s about using the power of words to transport readers into a world created by the writer.

5 Key Characteristics of Creative Writing

Creative writing is marked by several defining characteristics, each working to create a distinct form of expression:

1. Imagination and Creativity: Creative writing is all about harnessing your creativity and imagination to create an engaging and compelling piece of work. It allows writers to explore different scenarios, characters, and worlds that may not exist in reality.

2. Emotional Engagement: Creative writing often evokes strong emotions in the reader. It aims to make the reader feel something — whether it’s happiness, sorrow, excitement, or fear.

3. Originality: Creative writing values originality. It’s about presenting familiar things in new ways or exploring ideas that are less conventional.

4. Use of Literary Devices: Creative writing frequently employs literary devices such as metaphors, similes, personification, and others to enrich the text and convey meanings in a more subtle, layered manner.

5. Focus on Aesthetics: The beauty of language and the way words flow together is important in creative writing. The aim is to create a piece that’s not just interesting to read, but also beautiful to hear when read aloud.

Remember, creative writing is not just about producing a work of art. It’s also a means of self-expression and a way to share your perspective with the world. Whether you’re considering it as a hobby or contemplating a career in it, understanding the nature and characteristics of creative writing can help you hone your skills and create more engaging pieces .

For more insights into creative writing, check out our articles on creative writing jobs and what you can do with a creative writing degree and is a degree in creative writing worth it .

Styles of Creative Writing

To fully understand creative writing , you must be aware of the various styles involved. Creative writing explores a multitude of genres, each with its own unique characteristics and techniques.

Poetry is a form of creative writing that uses expressive language to evoke emotions and ideas. Poets often employ rhythm, rhyme, and other poetic devices to create pieces that are deeply personal and impactful. Poems can vary greatly in length, style, and subject matter, making this a versatile and dynamic form of creative writing.

Short Stories

Short stories are another common style of creative writing. These are brief narratives that typically revolve around a single event or idea. Despite their length, short stories can provide a powerful punch, using precise language and tight narrative structures to convey a complete story in a limited space.

Novels represent a longer form of narrative creative writing. They usually involve complex plots, multiple characters, and various themes. Writing a novel requires a significant investment of time and effort; however, the result can be a rich and immersive reading experience.

Screenplays

Screenplays are written works intended for the screen, be it television, film, or online platforms. They require a specific format, incorporating dialogue and visual descriptions to guide the production process. Screenwriters must also consider the practical aspects of filmmaking, making this an intricate and specialized form of creative writing.

If you’re interested in this style, understanding creative writing jobs and what you can do with a creative writing degree can provide useful insights.

Writing for the theater is another specialized form of creative writing. Plays, like screenplays, combine dialogue and action, but they also require an understanding of the unique dynamics of the theatrical stage. Playwrights must think about the live audience and the physical space of the theater when crafting their works.

Each of these styles offers unique opportunities for creativity and expression. Whether you’re drawn to the concise power of poetry, the detailed storytelling of novels, or the visual language of screenplays and plays, there’s a form of creative writing that will suit your artistic voice. The key is to explore, experiment, and find the style that resonates with you.

For those looking to spark their creativity, our article on creative writing prompts offers a wealth of ideas to get you started.

Importance of Creative Writing

Understanding what is creative writing involves recognizing its value and significance. Engaging in creative writing can provide numerous benefits – let’s take a closer look.

Developing Creativity and Imagination

Creative writing serves as a fertile ground for nurturing creativity and imagination. It encourages you to think outside the box, explore different perspectives, and create unique and original content. This leads to improved problem-solving skills and a broader worldview , both of which can be beneficial in various aspects of life.

Through creative writing, one can build entire worlds, create characters, and weave complex narratives, all of which are products of a creative mind and vivid imagination. This can be especially beneficial for those seeking creative writing jobs and what you can do with a creative writing degree .

Enhancing Communication Skills

Creative writing can also play a crucial role in honing communication skills. It demands clarity, precision, and a strong command of language. This helps to improve your vocabulary, grammar, and syntax, making it easier to express thoughts and ideas effectively .

Moreover, creative writing encourages empathy as you often need to portray a variety of characters from different backgrounds and perspectives. This leads to a better understanding of people and improved interpersonal communication skills.

Exploring Emotions and Ideas

One of the most profound aspects of creative writing is its ability to provide a safe space for exploring emotions and ideas. It serves as an outlet for thoughts and feelings , allowing you to express yourself in ways that might not be possible in everyday conversation.

Writing can be therapeutic, helping you process complex emotions, navigate difficult life events, and gain insight into your own experiences and perceptions. It can also be a means of self-discovery , helping you to understand yourself and the world around you better.

So, whether you’re a seasoned writer or just starting out, the benefits of creative writing are vast and varied. For those interested in developing their creative writing skills, check out our articles on creative writing prompts and how to teach creative writing . If you’re considering a career in this field, you might find our article on is a degree in creative writing worth it helpful.

4 Steps to Start Creative Writing

Creative writing can seem daunting to beginners, but with the right approach, anyone can start their journey into this creative field. Here are some steps to help you start creative writing .

1. Finding Inspiration

The first step in creative writing is finding inspiration . Inspiration can come from anywhere and anything. Observe the world around you, listen to conversations, explore different cultures, and delve into various topics of interest.

Reading widely can also be a significant source of inspiration. Read different types of books, articles, and blogs. Discover what resonates with you and sparks your imagination.

For structured creative prompts, visit our list of creative writing prompts to get your creative juices flowing.

Editor’s Note : When something excites or interests you, stop and take note – it could be the inspiration for your next creative writing piece.

2. Planning Your Piece

Once you have an idea, the next step is to plan your piece . Start by outlining:

• the main points

Remember, this can serve as a roadmap to guide your writing process. A plan doesn’t have to be rigid. It’s a flexible guideline that can be adjusted as you delve deeper into your writing. The primary purpose is to provide direction and prevent writer’s block.

3. Writing Your First Draft

After planning your piece, you can start writing your first draft . This is where you give life to your ideas and breathe life into your characters.

Don’t worry about making it perfect in the first go. The first draft is about getting your ideas down on paper . You can always refine and polish your work later. And if you don’t have a great place to write that first draft, consider a journal for writing .

4. Editing and Revising Your Work

The final step in the creative writing process is editing and revising your work . This is where you fine-tune your piece, correct grammatical errors, and improve sentence structure and flow.

Editing is also an opportunity to enhance your storytelling . You can add more descriptive details, develop your characters further, and make sure your plot is engaging and coherent.

Remember, writing is a craft that improves with practice . Don’t be discouraged if your first few pieces don’t meet your expectations. Keep writing, keep learning, and most importantly, enjoy the creative process.

For more insights on creative writing, check out our articles on how to teach creative writing or creative writing activities for kids.

Tips to Improve Creative Writing Skills

Understanding what is creative writing is the first step. But how can one improve their creative writing skills? Here are some tips that can help.

Read Widely

Reading is a vital part of becoming a better writer. By immersing oneself in a variety of genres, styles, and authors, one can gain a richer understanding of language and storytelling techniques . Different authors have unique voices and methods of telling stories, which can serve as inspiration for your own work. So, read widely and frequently!

Practice Regularly

Like any skill, creative writing improves with practice. Consistently writing — whether it be daily, weekly, or monthly — helps develop your writing style and voice . Using creative writing prompts can be a fun way to stimulate your imagination and get the words flowing.

Attend Writing Workshops and Courses

Formal education such as workshops and courses can offer structured learning and expert guidance. These can provide invaluable insights into the world of creative writing, from understanding plot development to character creation. If you’re wondering is a degree in creative writing worth it, these classes can also give you a taste of what studying creative writing at a higher level might look like .

Joining Writing Groups and Communities

Being part of a writing community can provide motivation, constructive feedback, and a sense of camaraderie. These groups often hold regular meetings where members share their work and give each other feedback. Plus, it’s a great way to connect with others who share your passion for writing.

Seeking Feedback on Your Work

Feedback is a crucial part of improving as a writer. It offers a fresh perspective on your work, highlighting areas of strength and opportunities for improvement. Whether it’s from a writing group, a mentor, or even friends and family, constructive criticism can help refine your writing .

Start Creative Writing Today!

Remember, becoming a proficient writer takes time and patience. So, don’t be discouraged by initial challenges. Keep writing, keep learning, and most importantly, keep enjoying the process. Who knows, your passion for creative writing might even lead to creative writing jobs and what you can do with a creative writing degree .

Happy writing!

Brooks Manley

Creative Primer  is a resource on all things journaling, creativity, and productivity. We’ll help you produce better ideas, get more done, and live a more effective life.

My name is Brooks. I do a ton of journaling, like to think I’m a creative (jury’s out), and spend a lot of time thinking about productivity. I hope these resources and product recommendations serve you well. Reach out if you ever want to chat or let me know about a journal I need to check out!

Here’s my favorite journal for 2024: 

Gratitude Journal Prompts Mindfulness Journal Prompts Journal Prompts for Anxiety Reflective Journal Prompts Healing Journal Prompts Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Journal Prompts Mental Health Journal Prompts ASMR Journal Prompts Manifestation Journal Prompts Self-Care Journal Prompts Morning Journal Prompts Evening Journal Prompts Self-Improvement Journal Prompts Creative Writing Journal Prompts Dream Journal Prompts Relationship Journal Prompts "What If" Journal Prompts New Year Journal Prompts Shadow Work Journal Prompts Journal Prompts for Overcoming Fear Journal Prompts for Dealing with Loss Journal Prompts for Discerning and Decision Making Travel Journal Prompts Fun Journal Prompts

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• Jul 3, 2023

Primary 1 Creative Writing: 5 Guidelines for Building Sentences in English

As a parent, we understand the importance of nurturing your child's writing skills from the very beginning. In Primary 1, mastering the art of constructing strong, complete sentence is a fundamental step towards becoming a proficient writer. You've come to the right place if you're eager to guide your child on this journey.

This article offers five practical tips designed to help Primary 1 students build robust and engaging sentences in their creative writing. With these strategies, you can foster your child's confidence and lay the groundwork for their future writing success.

1. Keep It Simple

When teaching your young ones to write, begin with easy sentence formats they can grasp quickly. Using basic sentences at the start helps ensure that children don't get confused by tricky grammar or complex language. This makes learning less scary and gives kids a good starting point for more difficult language skills later on. It's like giving them the simple pieces first to build a big, strong castle of sentences as they get better at writing.

Use short sentences with subject-verb-object structures and avoid using too many conjunctions and complex sentence structures. This way, learning to write is fun and manageable for your child.

2. Use Descriptive Words When Building Sentences

Encourage children to use descriptive words to make their writing more interesting. Encouraging the use of descriptive words in Primary 1 Creative Writing is a powerful strategy for building solid and expressive sentences. When children employ descriptive words, they create or draw a picture with their words, significantly improving their writing quality.

Descriptive language adds depth and detail to their narratives, allowing readers to visualise the scenarios more effectively. It's a compelling tool for drawing readers into their world of imagination and creativity.

For example, instead of writing, "The cat sat on the mat," they could write, "The fluffy cat sat lazily on the soft mat."

Furthermore, using descriptive words helps children learn how to express their thoughts, feelings, and experiences more accurately. This boosts their overall language proficiency and broadens their vocabulary.

3. Vary Sentence Length

Helping kids learn to change the length of their sentences can greatly improve their writing in Primary 1. By adjusting how long or short a sentence is, they can change the feel and flow of their stories, making them livelier and more interesting.

Short sentences are very useful in creative writing. They can make things seem thrilling or full of action, grab the reader's attention, and make key points stand out. On the flip side, longer sentences have their own benefits. They can be used to create suspense, describe things in detail, or delve into what a character is thinking or feeling.

By learning and using these techniques, kids can have better control over the "beat" of their stories. This means they can decide when to speed things up with short sentences or slow things down with longer ones, making their writing more effective.

4. Practice Punctuation

Punctuation is very important in building sentences and making them easy to read. It helps shape how kids communicate and express themselves.

Properly using punctuation marks gives structure and flow to their sentences. Full stops are used to mark the end of an idea, commas give a brief pause in a sentence, and capital letters signal the start of a new sentence or name. Teaching kids these simple sentence rules helps them write sentences that are organised and easy to understand, which is vital to good writing.

Also, using punctuation correctly makes their stories clearer and easier to follow. It helps guide readers through the story, pointing out key details and controlling the speed of the story.

5. Read Widely

Encouraging your child to read a lot and exposing them to different sentence structures and writing styles can significantly improve their writing skills in Primary 1. Reading extensively helps them better understand how language works and gradually enhances their own writing abilities.

One effective sentence-building exercise for Primary 1 is to read a variety of books. When kids read different kinds of books, they see many types of sentence structures, each with its own flow and way of expressing ideas. This helps them recognise these structures and inspires them to try out different kinds of sentences in their own writing. The more they read, the more tools they have in their "writing toolbox," helping them write strong, interesting sentences.

Building strong sentences is an essential foundation for any aspiring writer, and this journey of linguistic exploration ideally begins in Primary 1. As parents and mentors, our role is to foster an environment that encourages simplicity, creativity, variety, punctuation understanding, and a love for reading in children. These five basic English sentence strategies are a pathway to unlocking your child's potential in creative writing.

Remember, every child has a unique voice and a story to tell. By integrating these tips into their early writing experiences, we can empower them to construct strong sentences confidently, setting the stage for their future success in creative writing. Start today, and watch as your young writer flourishes and brings their imagination to life through words.

AGrader Learning Centre understands the importance of solid writing skills in every child's education. At AGrader Learning Centre, we equip your child with the knowledge and techniques to master vocabulary, laying the foundation for their academic and creative future.

Our qualified teachers are ready to guide your child on an exciting journey of words and narratives. They are adept at teaching students how to use words appropriately and effectively to enhance the quality of their writing. Our tutors, with their years of experience and innovative techniques, provide a nurturing and stimulating environment that fosters a love for writing.

Don't wait to give your child the best start in their creative writing journey. Enrol them in AGrader Learning Centre's Primary Creative Writing Tuition today.

Empower their creativity and watch as they transform into confident, imaginative, and skilled writers.

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• Creative Writing Prompts Activities And Resources For Ks1 And Ks2 English

Creative writing prompts – Best activities and resources for KS1 and KS2 English

Fed up of reading 'and then…', 'and then…' in your children's writing? Try these story starters, structures, worksheets and other fun writing prompt resources for primary pupils…

What is creative writing?

How to develop opportunities for writing with choice and freedom, jump to section:.

• Writing with choice and freedom

Creative writing resources for the classroom

Creative writing prompts.

• Improving creative writing
• Overcoming the fear of creative writing

According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, ‘creative’ is ‘producing or using original and unusual ideas’, yet I would argue that in writing there’s no such thing as an original idea – all stories are reincarnations of ones that have gone before.

As writers we learn to be expert magpies – selecting the shiny words, phrases and ideas from other stories and taking them for our own.  

Interestingly, the primary national curriculum does not mention creative writing or writing for pleasure at all and is focused on the skill of writing.

Therefore, if writing creatively and for pleasure is important in your school, it must be woven into your vision for English.

“Interestingly, the Primary National Curriculum does not mention creative writing or writing for pleasure at all”

Creative writing in primary schools can be broken into two parts:

• writing with choice and freedom
• developing story writing

Writing with choice and freedom allows children to write about what interests and inspires them.  

Developing story writing provides children with the skills they need to write creatively. In primary schools this is often taught in a very structured way and, particularly in the formative years, can lack opportunities for children to be creative.

Children are often told to retell a story in their own words or tweak a detail such as the setting or the main character.  

Below you’ll find plenty of creative writing prompts, suggestions and resources to help develop both writing for choice and freedom and developing story writing in your classroom. 

Here’s an interesting question to consider: if the curriculum disappeared but children still had the skills to write, would they?

I believe so – they’d still have ideas they wanted to convey and stories they wanted to share.

One of my children enjoys writing and the other is more reluctant to mark make when asked to, but both choose to write. They write notes for friends, song lyrics, stories and even business plans.

So how can we develop opportunities to write with choice and freedom in our classrooms?

Early Years classrooms are full of opportunities for children to write about what interests them, but it’s a rarer sight in KS1 and 2.  

Ask children what they want to write about

Reading for pleasure has quite rightly been prioritised in schools and the impact is clear. Many of the wonderful ideas from The Open University’s Reading For Pleasure site can be used and adapted for writing too.

For example, ask children to create a ‘writing river’ where they record the writing they choose to do across a week.

If pupils like writing about a specific thing, consider creating a short burst writing activity linked to this. The below Harry Potter creative writing activity , where children create a new character and write a paragraph about them, is an example of this approach.

If you have a spare 20 minutes, listen to the below conversation with Lucy and Jonathan from HeadteacherChat and Alex from LinkyThinks . They discuss the importance of knowing about children’s interests but also about being a writer yourself.

'The confidence Crisis in Creative Writing.' Lucy and Jonathan chat with Alex from @LinkyThinks https://t.co/VClYxiQhcf — HeadteacherChat (@Headteacherchat) August 9, 2022

Plan in time to pursue personal writing projects 

There are lots of fantastic ideas for developing writing for pleasure in your classrooms on The Writing For Pleasure Centre’s website .

One suggestion is assigning time to pursue personal writing projects. The Meadows Primary School in Madeley Heath, Staffordshire, does this termly and provides scaffolds for children who may find the choice daunting.

Give children a choice about writing implements and paper 

Sometimes the fun is in the novelty. Are there opportunities within your week to give pupils some choices about the materials they use? Ideas could include:

• little notebooks
• a roll of paper
• felt tip pens
• gel pens  

Write for real audiences 

This is a great way to develop children’s motivation to write and is easy to do.

It could be a blog, a class newsletter or pen pals. Look around in your community for opportunities to write – the local supermarket, a nearby nursing home or the library are often all good starting points.

Have a go yourself

The most successful teachers of story writing write fiction themselves.

Many adults do not write creatively and trying to teach something you have not done yourself in a long time can be difficult. By having a go you can identify the areas of difficulty alongside the thought processes required.  

Treat every child as an author

Time is always a premium in the classroom but equally, we’re all fully aware of the impact of verbal feedback.

One-to-one writing conferences have gained in popularity in primary classrooms and it’s well-worth giving these a go if you haven’t already.

Set aside time to speak to each child about the writing they’re currently constructing. Discuss what’s going well and what they could develop.

If possible, timetable these one-to-one discussions with the whole class throughout the year (ideally more often, if possible).  

Free KS2 virtual visit and resources

Bring best-selling children’s authors directly into your classroom with Author In Your Classroom. It’s a brilliant free podcast series made especially for schools, and there’s loads of free resources to download too.

More than 20 authors have recorded episodes so far, including:

• Sir Michael Morpurgo
• Dame Jacqueline Wilson
• Michael Rosen
• Joseph Coelho
• Lauren Child
• Frank Cottrell-Boyce
• Benjamin Zephaniah
• Cressida Cowell
• Robin Stevens

Creative writing exercises

Use these inspiring writing templates from Rachel Clarke to inspire pupils who find it difficult to get their thoughts down on the page. The structured creative writing prompts and activities, which range from writing a ‘ through the portal story ‘ to a character creation activity that involves making your own Top Trumps style cards, will help inexperienced writers to get started.

Storyboard templates and story structures

Whether it’s short stories, comic strips or filmmaking, every tale needs the right structure to be told well. This storyboard template resource will help your children develop the skills required to add that foundation to their creative writing.

Ten-minute activities 

The idea of fitting another thing into the school day can feel overwhelming, so start with small creative writing activities once a fortnight. Below are a few ideas that have endless possibilities.

Character capers

You need a 1-6 dice for this activity. Roll it three to find out who your character is, what their personality is and what job they do, then think about the following:

• Can you draw them?
• What questions would you ask them if you met them?
• What might their answers be?
• If they were the main character in a story, what might happen?

Download our character capers worksheet .

Setting soup

In this activity pupils Look at the four photos and fill in a mind map for one of the settings, focusing on what they’d see, hear, feel, smell and feel in that location. They then write an ingredients list for their setting, such as:

• A dollop of calmness 
• A drizzle of a beautiful sunset 
• A generous helping of a still ocean 
• Copious amounts of smooth sand 
• A spattering of lush, green palm trees 

Download our setting soup worksheet .

Use consequences to generate story ideas

Start with a game of drawing consequences – this is a great way of building a new character.

Next, play a similar game but write a story. Here’s an example . Download our free writing consequences template to get started.

Roll and write a story

For this quick activity, children roll a dice three times to choose a setting and two characters – for example, a theme park, an explorer and a mythical creature. They then use the results to create an outline for a story.

Got more than ten minutes? Use the outline to write a complete story. Alternatively, use the results to create a book cover and blurb or, with a younger group of children, do the activity as a class then draw or write about the outcome.

Download our roll and write a story worksheet .

Scavenger hunt

Give children something to hide and tell them they have to write five clues in pairs, taking another pair from one clue to the next until the 5th clue leads them to the hidden item.

For a challenge, the clues could be riddles.  

Set up pen pals. This might be with children in another country or school, or it could simply be with another class.

What do pupils want to say or share? It might be a letter, but it could be a comic strip, poem or pop-up book.  

You need a log-in to access Authorfy’s content but it’s free. The website is crammed with every children’s author imaginable, talking about their books and inspirations and setting writing challenges. It’s a great tool to inspire and enthuse.  

There are lots of great resources and videos on Oxford Owl which are free to access and will provide children with quick bursts of creativity.  

Creative writing ideas for KS2

This free Pie Corbett Ultimate KS2 fiction collection is packed with original short stories from the man himself, and a selection of teaching resources he’s created to accompany each one.

Each creative writing activity will help every young writer get their creative juices flowing and overcome writer’s block.

WAGOLL text types

​Support pupils when writing across a whole range of text types and genres with these engaging writing packs from Plazoom , differentiated for KS1, LKS2 and UKS2.

They feature:

• model texts (demonstrating WAGOLL for learners)
• planning guides
• writing templates
• themed paper

Each one focuses on a particular kind of text, encouraging children to make appropriate vocabulary, register and layout choices, and produce the very best writing of which they are capable, which can be used for evidence of progress.

If you teach KS2, start off by exploring fairy tales with a twist , or choose from 50+ other options .

Scaffolds and plot types

A great way to support children with planning stories with structures, this creative writing scaffolds and plot types resource pack contains five story summaries, each covering a different plot type, which they can use as a story idea.

It has often been suggested that there are only seven basic plots a story can use, and here you’ll find text summaries for five of these:

• Overcoming the monster
• Rags to riches
• Voyage and return

After familiarising themselves with these texts, children can adapt and change these stories to create tales of their own.

Use story starters

If some children still need a bit of a push in the right direction, check out our 6 superb story starters to develop creative writing skills . This list features a range of free story starter resources, including animations (like the one above) and even the odd iguana…

Use word mats to inspire

Help pupils to write independently by providing them with helpful vocabulary sheets that they can pick and choose from when doing their own creative writing.

Download our free creative writing word mats here , including:

• Create a spooky atmosphere
• Write an adventure story
• Describe a character’s appearance
• Describe a character’s personality
• Describe how a character moves
• Describe how a character speaks
• Describe a mythical beast

Creative writing pictures

Using images as writing prompts is nothing new, but it’s fun and effective.

Pobble 365 has an inspiring photo for every day of the year. These are great inspiration for ten-minute free writing activities. You need to log in to Pobble but access to Pobble 365 (the pictures) is free.  

Choose two pictures as prompts (you can access every picture for the year in the calendar) or provide children with a range of starter prompts.

For example, with the photo above you might ask children to complete one of the following activities: 

• Continue the story using the story starters on Pobble. 
• Write down what your dream day would include. 
• Create a superhero called Dolphin Dude.  
• If you didn’t need to breath when swimming underwater, what would you do? Write about your dream day. It might include rivers, lakes, swimming pools, the seas or oceans.  
• If you had a super power, what would it be and why?  

The Literacy Shed

Website The Literacy Shed has a page dedicated to interesting pictures for creative writing . There are winter scenes, abandoned places, landscapes, woodlands, pathways, statues and even flying houses.

The Literacy Shed also hosts video clips for inspiring writing and is choc-full of ways to use them. The Night Zookeeper Shed is well worth a visit. There are short videos, activities and resources to inspire creative writing.

Once Upon a Picture

Once Upon a Picture is another site packed with creative writing picture prompts , but its focus is more on illustrations than photography, so its offering is great for letting little imaginations soar.

Each one comes with questions for kids to consider, or activities to carry out.

How to improve creative writing

Developing story writing .

If you decided to climb a mountain, in order to be successful you’d need to be well-equipped and you’d need to have practised with smaller climbs first.

The same is true of creative writing: to be successful you need to be well-equipped with the skills of writing and have had plenty of opportunities to practise.  

As a teachers you need to plan with this in mind – develop a writing journey which allows children to learn the art of story writing by studying stories of a similar style, focusing on how effects are created and scaffolding children’s writing activities so they achieve success.  

• Choose a focus When planning, consider what skill you want to embed for children and have that as your focus throughout the sequence of learning. For example, if you teach Y4 you might decide to focus on integrating speech into stories. When your class looks at a similar story, draw their attention to how the author uses speech and discuss how it advances the action and shows you more about the characters. During the sequence, your class can practise the technical side of writing speech (new line/new speaker, end punctuation, etc). When they come to write their own story, your success criteria will be focused on using speech effectively. By doing this, the skill of using speech is embedded. If you chose to focus on ALL the elements of story writing that a Y4 child should be using (fronted adverbials, conjunctions, expanded noun phrases, etc), this might lead to cognitive overload.
• Plan in chances to be creative Often teachers plan three writing opportunities: one where children retell the story, one with a slight difference (eg a different main character) and a final one where children invent their own story. However, in my experience, the third piece of writing often never happens because children have lost interest or time has run out. If we equip children with the skills, we must allow them time to use them.
• Utilise paired writing Children love to collaborate and by working in pairs it actually helps develop independence. Give it a go!  
• Find opportunities for real audiences Nothing is more motivating than knowing you will get to share your story with another class, a parent or the local nursing home.
• Use high-quality stimuli If your focus is speech, find a great novel for kids that uses speech effectively. There are so many excellent children’s stories available that there’s no need to write your own.
• Use magpie books This is somewhere where children can note down any great words or phrases they find from their reading. It will get them reading as a writer. 

Below is a rough outline of a planning format that leads to successful writing opportunities.

This sequence of learning takes around three weeks but may be longer or shorter, depending on the writing type.  

Before planning out the learning, decide on up to three key focuses for the sequence. Think about the potential learning opportunities that the stimuli supports (eg don’t focus on direct speech if you’re writing non-chronological reports ).  

Ways to overcome fear of creative writing

Many children are inhibited in their writing for a variety of reasons. These include the all-too-familiar ‘fear of the blank page’ (“I can’t think of anything to write about!” is a common lament), trying to get all the technical aspects right as they compose their work (a sense of being ‘overwhelmed’), and the fact that much of children’s success in school is underpinned by an ethos of competitiveness and comparison, which can lead to a fear of failure and a lack of desire to try.

Any steps we can take to diminish these anxieties means that children will feel increasingly motivated to write, and so enjoy their writing more. This in turn will lead to the development of skills in all areas of writing, with the broader benefits this brings more generally in children’s education.

Here are some easily applied and simple ideas from author and school workshop provider Steve Bowkett for boosting self-confidence in writing.

• Keep it creative Make creative writing a regular activity. High priority is given to spelling, punctuation and grammar, but these need a context to be properly understood. Teaching the technicalities of language without giving children meaningful opportunities to apply them is like telling people the names of a car engine’s parts without helping them learn to drive.
• Model the behaviour In other words, when you want your class to write a story or poem, have a go yourself and be upfront about the difficulties you encounter in trying to translate your thoughts into words.
• Go easy on the grammar Encourage children to write without them necessarily trying to remember and apply a raft of grammatical rules. An old saying has it that we should ‘learn the rules well and then forget them’. Learning how to use punctuation, for instance, is necessary and valuable, but when children try and apply the rules consciously and laboriously as they go along, the creative flow can be stifled. Consideration of rules should, however, be an important element of the editing process.
• Keep assessment focused Where you do require children to focus on rules during composition, pick just one or two they can bear in mind as they write. Explain that you will mark for these without necessarily correcting other areas of GaPS. Not only will this save you time, but also children will be spared the demotivating sight of their writing covered in corrections (which many are unlikely to read).
• Value effort If a child tries hard but produces work that is technically poor, celebrate his achievement in making an effort and apply the old ‘three stars and a wish’ technique to the work by finding three points you can praise followed by noting one area where improvements can be made.
• Leave room for improvement Make clear that it’s fine for children to change their minds, and that there is no expectation for them to ‘get it all right’ first time. Show the class before and after drafts from the work of well-known poets and extracts from stories. Where these have been hand written, they are often untidy and peppered with crossings out and other annotations as the writers tried to clarify their thoughts. If you have the facilities, invite children to word process their stories using the ‘track changes’ facility. Encourage children to show their workings out, as you would do in maths.
• Don’t strive for perfection Slay the ‘practice makes perfect’ dragon. It’s a glib phrase and also an inaccurate one. Telling children that practice makes better is a sound piece of advice. But how could we ever say that a story or poem is perfect? Even highly experienced authors strive to improve.
• Come back later Leave some time – a couple of days will do – between children writing a piece and editing or redrafting it. This is often known as the ‘cooling off’ period. Many children will find that they come back to their work with fresh eyes that enable them to pick out more errors, and with new ideas for improving the piece structurally.
• Try diamond 9 Use the diamond ranking tool to help children assess their own work. Give each child some scraps of paper or card and have them write on each an aspect of their writing, such as creating strong characters, controlling pace and tension, describing places and things, using ‘punchy’ verbs etc. Supply these elements as necessary, but allow children some leeway to think of examples of their own. Now ask each child to physically arrange these scraps according to how effectively they were used in the latest piece of work. So two writing elements that a child thinks are equally strong will be placed side by side, while an aspect of the work a child is pleased with will be placed above one that he / she is not so happy with.
• Keep it varied Vary the writing tasks. By this I mean it’s not necessary to ask children always to write a complete story. Get them to create just an opening scene for example, or a vivid character description, or an exciting story climax. If more-reluctant writers think they haven’t got to write much they might be more motivated to have a go. Varying the tasks also helps to keep the process of writing fresh, while the results can form resource banks (of characters, scenes, etc) for future use.
• Help each other Highlight the idea that everyone in the class, including yourself, forms a community of writers. Here, difficulties can be aired, advice can be shared and successes can be celebrated as we all strive to ‘dare to do it and do our best’.

Browse more ideas for National Writing Day .

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Hundreds of Awesome Creative Writing Topics for kids

Creative writing is a great way for children to express themselves using imagination. At Kids Play and Create, we value young writers, and we are constantly updating our list to bring you new, fun, and imaginative writing prompts for kids.

We have story starters, icebreakers, fiction writing prompts, and fun topics to inspire kids through writing. From young students to middle school students and even high school, we have great writing prompts for all writing styles and even the most reluctant writers.

We started out with 50 creative writing topics for kids but have added many more. Check back regularly for newly added writing topics. 

                Check the end of the article for updated Creative Writing Topics for Teens. Are you looking for Creative Writing topics for 1st grade and 2nd grade with free printables? We have that too!

What is Creative Writing?

Creative writing can be used to explain many types of writing. It is a writing style that lets the writer express themselves.  Some forms of creative writing entertain the reader, while others are therapeutic.  Creative writing lets the writer use their imagination and takes the reader on a journey into their thoughts.

Is Creative Writing Important?

Creative writing is a great way to learn more about the children you work with.  You can find out things about what they like and don’t like.  Depending on the topic you choose, you can also find out things about their personality, what kind of friends they are, how they feel about themselves, and if they set goals and more.  

There are many benefits to writing. Creative writing helps build critical thinking skills and writing skills. These writing prompts will build a child’s confidence to write their own stories.

How do you get kids to want to write without complaining?  Give them fun topics that they will learn about themselves while writing.  On this list, you will find various good topics for both younger and older children.

Creative Writing is fun for All Ages.

Creative writing isn’t just for older children. It can be for the little ones too. Young students as early as Preschool or Kindergarten may not have the ability to write but can express themselves through drawing.

Have young students concentrate less on the writing and more on drawing a picture that goes with the topic. Children are great at expressing themselves through art.

Awesome Creative Writing Prompts for Elementary Students

1. Have the children write on top of the page:  I Am Special Because… This is a good topic to help children express themselves.

Have the children think about why they are special and ask themselves questions, here are some examples: what am I good at? Who have they helped? How have I made a difference? What special talent do I have?

2. If I was a superhero, what kind of superhero would I be, and what powers would I have? (This can also be done using villains)

 Examples of powers they can write about: are flying, super speed, eye lasers, walking through walls, shooting ice, shooting fire, changing the weather, camouflage, shapeshifting (changing shape), and turning invisible. 

Activity:  Keep track of who chose a superhero or a villain. Do not let the children know that another activity will follow after the writing activity. When the writing activity is over, split the children into two teams, the superhero team and the villain team.  Have them vs. each other in a game of tag.  Who will champion the superheroes or the villains? 

3. What do I want to be when I grow up and why? This a great way to get to know children.  By asking what they want to be when they grow up, you can find out what the children like.  It’s also a great way for children to start thinking about the future.

4. If you were given three wishes, what would they be and why? This is a fun topic.  Children can think about having anything in the world.  Will they pick something like peace on earth or go the million-dollar route?  

5. If I could invent a new animal, what animal would it be?  Have the children ask themselves the following questions: What does the animal look like (what color, is it big or small, is it a combination of two animals)?  What sounds does the animal make?  What does it eat?  Where does it live?  Describe the animal’s habitat.

Creative Writing Topics for Kids

6. If I could invent a new toy, what kind of toy would I create and why? Or, If I could improve a toy, which toy would I improve, and how would I make it better?  You can talk to the children about the creative process:  First, you come up with an idea, then you have to get it made.  You can talk to the children about manufacturing toys.  Here are some questions you can ask the children about improving a toy.  How do you want to make the toy better?  Do you want to make the remote control car faster?  Is the game challenging enough?  Do you want your doll to have more features or do more?  These are all questions you can ask the children to get their brains thinking.

7. If I could make something disappear in my life, what would it be and why? Ask the children if there is something in your life that makes them unhappy.  Is there a problem you are having?  

8. All About me essay. Some sample questions the children can ask are:  What are my likes and dislikes? What is my favorite subject in school? What do I want to be when I group up?  Who is their favorite actress/actor?  Where do they want to visit? They can name the people in their family, talk about any extracurricular activities they do, etc.

In what ways do I help my family? Have children write about the ways they help their families.  Do you have chores?  If so, what are they?  Do you help your mom or dad cook?  Do you talk out the garbage? Do you take care of your siblings?  Do you have a job to help pay bills?  

10. How can I be a better friend?  Have children think about what type of friends they are.  Are they good listeners?  Are you kind?  Do you talk about your friends to other people?  Have them think about how they would like to be treated by a friend, do they treat their friends the way they want to be treated?

The Best Creative Writing Topics for 4th and 5th grade

11. If you could be invisible, what would you do and why? Have the children think about what it would be like to be invisible.  Would they use this new power for good or would they try to do something bad?

See also   Top 10 Ways you can Encourage Good Homework Habits for Elementary Students .

12. What do you think about bullies and why? Have the children define what a bully is to them in their paper.  Do they think they are a bully?  Do they think bullying is wrong?  Remember, these are things the children are feeling, there are no wrong answers.

13. Why is it important to be honest and not lie?  To them, the children with their writing ask them the following questions. What does it mean to be honest?  Have you ever told a lie that turned into another lie?

14. What would you do if you won a million dollars?  This question is usually a favorite topic with the children.  Ask them if they think one million dollars is a lot of money.  Depending on where you live, it might be just enough to buy a small house and a car.  What are some things you would buy?  Would you save some or spend it all?

15. If you could change the world, what would you do and why? This is a good question for older children.  Would they change things, such as ending hate and violence in the world? Would they change things such as making gas or food free for everyone? You will get various answers, making this a fun and interesting topic.

Fun Writing Prompts Ideas

16. If you were a king/queen, what would you do and why? This is a fun topic for both younger and older children.  Activity: Have the children draw their kingdom and a picture of them as king or queen

17. If you could invent a video game, what kind of game would you create and why? This topic is also great for older children and young er children.  Children love playing video games, they may not realize that they can make video games for a living.  Talk to the children about video game developers and the process of creating video games.  Have them brainstorm ideas for games, and find out what they can come up with.

18. Write about a time when you had to be brave, what did you do, and how did it feel?  Ask the children if they have ever been afraid. What were they afraid of? Did something scary happen to them?  What did they do to get through it?

19. Write about a trip to the moon, how did you get there, what did you see, it was fun or scary?

20. Write about something you are good at?

21. Write about one thing you want to learn about?

22. Write about a time when you worked hard to get something. This can be a thing or an accomplishment, like making a team, finally getting that cartwheel, or passing a test.

23. Write about five things you could be better at if you worked hard and gave more effort.  There is always room for improvement.  Talk to the children about the importance of trying hard and working towards a goal.

24. If you had to give away $1,000, what would you do with it, who would you give it to? This is a great question when talking to children about being kind and helping others.  

Journal Prompts or Kids

25. What is the best thing someone has ever given to you?

26. What is the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?

27. Write about what you can teach others. Everyone is good at something.  This question helps children think about what they’re good at and how they can help others.

28. Did you ever get into an argument with a friend or family member? How did that make you feel?  

29. Did you ever hurt someone’s feelings?  Explain what happened and how it made you feel.  

30. Did someone ever hurt your feelings? How did it make you feel? Did you talk to that person about it?

31. Is there anyone you would like to switch places with? who and why?

32. What does it mean to be loyal?

33. When was a time you were loyal to a friend or a friend who was loyal to you?

34. What famous person would you like to meet? Write about a day spent with a famous person.

Self-Esteem Writing Topics

34. Has a friend ever betrayed you? How did it make you feel? What do you think your friend should have done differently?

35. Have you ever been friends with someone who was unpopular or not part of the group?  This is a great question to ask children when teaching them about acceptance and how it feels not to be part of a group.

36. When was a time you felt you were treated unfairly? How did it make you feel?

37. Is it fair to give someone a head start in a race?  When is it fair? When is it not fair?

38. Write about a time when you had a strong opinion about something? Why did you feel so strongly about it?

39. Write about a time you made a big mistake.  How did you fix it?  Everyone makes mistakes.  This writing topic helps children understand that mistakes are part of the learning experience.

40. Write about a time when you were very angry.  What happened? How did being angry make you feel? I find that many times children will feel sad when they are angry.  Did I make a good choice when I was angry? This is a great writing topic when discussing feelings with children.  It is important for them to understand that anger isn’t wrong, and you are allowed to feel angry.

41. If you heard a rumor about a friend you knew wasn’t true, what would you do? How would it make you feel?

42. Write about a time when you cheered someone up. What did you do? How did it make you feel? How did it make that person feel?

43. Write about a time you used your inner strength to get through a tough situation.

44. Write about three things that are hard for you and why.

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45. When was the last time you were afraid? What scared you? How did you react?

46. What is the bravest thing you’ve ever done?

47. Who is your hero, and why?

48. What do you think risk-taking is?  Have you ever taken a risk?

49. Write about your best friend. Who are they, how long have you known them, and why are they your best friend?

50. What does it mean to have good character? Do you think you have good character, why?

Short Story Writing Topics for Kids

51. Think about something you are not allowed to do but wish you could.  Write about why you want to do it and why you should be allowed to do it.

52. If you could be on a t.v show, which one would it be and why?  

53. If you had to choose to be one age for the rest of your life which age would you want to be?  Why?

54.  If you could pick the perfect job, what would it be?

55. You just found a treasure map, write about what you would do next.  Do you decide to look for the treasure?  Who is going to help you?  What supplies do you need? Did the map lead you to the treasure, or was it fake?  If you found the treasure, what was it?  What did you do with it?

56. You just built a time machine.  Where in time would you go?  What did you do?  What did you see?  Would you want to stay there or come back to the present time?

57.  You just discovered a new land.  What are you going to call your land?  What kind of animals live there?  Have you discovered anything on your land?  What are you going to build on your new land?

58. Challenge the kids to write a scary story.

59. If you are working with younger children, instead of having them write, you can have them draw and answer questions about their drawing.  Try some of these topics.

1  Create a monster.  Your monster can be silly, scary, funny, big, little, colorful, etc..  What is your monster’s name?  What does your monster eat?  Where does your monster live?  Is your monster nice or mean?  You can write the answers to the questions on the paper for the child or have them come up and share their drawing, while they are showing their picture, ask them questions about their monster.

2.  Create an animal.  This is the same as the monster but just an animal instead.

3. Create new food. What kind of food is it?  Is it a dessert, is it something spicy, is it a combination of both?  Have the children draw a picture of their new food.

Group Writing Prompts for Kids

I’ve been working with kids on group writing and art projects.  The kids enjoyed these topics the best.

58. Create a fairy tale. have each group member write one part of the story. Then have each member of the group draw one part of the story. When the children are finished writing, have them come up in front of the class and retell their story.   

59.  Create an amusement park.  Discuss as a group the name of the park.  Have each member of the group write about the parts of the park. 

A. What is the theme of your park?  Adventure, thrill rides, water rides, safari, etc.

B.  Write about the type of rides in the park.  Are there shows in the park?

C. Describe places to eat at the park and what type of food they serve.

D. Do they have a gift shop?  What do they sell at your park?

Art Project:  On a large poster board, have each group member draw a park map.  List of attractions, games, food, restrooms, gift shops, shows, etc..

 60. Create a planet – Your group has just discovered a new planet.  Have a group discussion about the planet.  What is the name?  Do anyone live on the planet? Is there water on the planet? Did you find fossils, aliens, or animals?  Is there oxygen? Are there plants, trees, or water?  Have each member of the group write something about the planet.

Art Project: Make a planet out of paper mache.  Once dry, paint, and decorate the planet.

Newly Added Creative Writing Prompts

61. Create a new food/or meal and make a recipe to teach others how to make it.  Have the kids draw a picture of the new food/meal.

62. Create a new game and describe how to play.  This writing topic lets children use their imaginations.  Have the children draw out the game on paper.  If creating a  board game, have the children turn the paper into a board game.

63. Write about a time you lost a game, didn’t do well on a test, or made a mistake, what lesson did you learn? This is a great writing topic to use when teaching children about losing.  Everyone loses sometimes.  losing actually makes you better.  Without losing, sometimes, you won’t strive to become better.

64.  Your video just went viral on Youtube.  What did you do in your video? These days children spend so much time looking at videos on Youtube.  Have them imagine what it would be like to become famous overnight with a viral video.

Fabulous Creative Writing Prompts for Kids

65.  Pretend you had an evil twin.  Write about some things your evil twin does.

66. What is the grossest lunch you have ever been served?  Write about this gross meal.  Remember to add many details about what the food looked and tasted like.

67. What is your sorcerer’s name?  What kind of sorcerer would you be?  Would you be evil or nice?  What kind of powers would you have?  What is something that you did as a sorcerer?

68. What are your personal superpowers?  Are you a great friend, are you smart, do you have a hidden talent?  Write about the superpowers that you already have.

See also   Black History Month Writing Prompts for Students .

69. Write about a time when you were proud of your work and did your best.  How did that make you feel?  Do you always try your best?  Why or why not

70. You have been working hard on your schoolwork/project all for a while, and your mind and body are tired, and you need a break.  What are some ways that you like to take a break?  Do you like to color, take deep breaths, play your favorite game, nap, or have a snack?  Tell us about how you like to take a break.

• Invent a new holiday. What would you call your holiday? When is it celebrated? How is it celebrated?
• You became a movie star overnight, what movie were you in? What character did you play?
• Write about your favorite sport. Why is it your favorite? Give directions on how to play.
• What is your favorite thing? Describe it and tell why it is your favorite.
• Who is your favorite teacher? Explain why they are your favorite.

The Best Creative Writing Prompts and Topics for Teens

• Have you ever seen somebody being treated unfairly?  If so, did you do anything about it, or did you ignore it and walk away?
• Do you talk to people the same way in person as you do on social media?
• How do you think social media has changed or is changing the world?
• What kind of America do you want to live in?
• What are your plans after high school?
• What do you think college life is like?
• Do you think it is important to save money at your age?  If so, how do you save money?  Why do you think it is important?
•  Do you know what it means to have good credit?  Do you think it is important to have good credit?  Why?
• Would you ever join the military?  Why?
• Who is your idol, and why?
• What is your favorite childhood memory?

New Creative Writing Prompts for Middle School and High School Students

• If you could take a trip anywhere in the world, where would you go?
• Write about something you would love to try and why
• Write about something you did but then felt guilty about it later.  How did you handle the situation?
• What is the hardest experience you have ever been through?  How did you handle it?
• Have you ever been to a job interview?  Where are you prepared?  Did you get the job? Would you say something different if you could do it over? Would you be better prepared next time?
• How do you think the world will be 50 years from now? How do you think people will treat each other?  How do you think the internet/social media has changed the world?  What kind of cars do you think we will be driving?  Will we still be using gas?
• Write about your dream home.  Would you live in a house or an apartment in the city?  Do you want a big house or something small?  What kind of fun features would your dream home have?
• If you were a parent, would you let your child have a social media account?  Why or why not?
• Would you rather work in a team on a project or alone?
• Write about your favorite song, why is it your favorite?  What is your favorite verse?  How do you feel when listening to it?
• If you were a clothing designer, what kind of clothes would you design?
• You have to spend one year stranded on a deserted island, you can bring five things or people with you, what do you bring?
• You are a superhero, you have to use your powers to make a positive change in the world.  What powers do you have?
• You are given the power to change one thing you don’t like about yourself, would you change anything?  If yes, what would you change and why?
• Write about your future self. What is your life like?

Updated Creative Writing Topics for Middle School and High School

• You are creating a new amusement park.  What kind of park would it be?  What kind of rides does it have?
• Write about the best Christmas gift you have ever received. Explain what it was, why it was your favorite, who gave it to you, do you still have it.  
• You were given 1 million dollars, but you must give it away.  Who would you give it to?  would you give it to one person or a couple of different people?  Would you donate it to an organization? 
• Name 5 of the most important things in your life ( house, family, health, etc..); now you just lost all of them.  How would you feel, what would you do?
• You just became a YouTube sensation.  What did you do that made you famous?  How does it feel to be recognized by people on the street?
• A friend of yours has been depressed and said that they told you they don’t want to live anymore.  What do you do and why?
• How would people describe you and why?
• Do you think that violent video games make people violent?  Do you think there should be age restrictions on video games?
• You have a choice of giving up social media or hanging out with your friends for a week, which one do you choose and why?
• Do you think what you learn in school can help you in the real world?  What topics do you think you should be learning and why?

The Best Creative Writing Prompts for Teens Continued 

• Do you think that money can buy happiness, why or why not?
• Do you think you need higher education to become successful?
• How important is your cell phone with you? I rather give up….blank…. than my cell phone (explain).
•  Describe the perfect day. What would you do?
• Have you ever been faced with discrimination?  Were you the one being discriminated against, or were you a witness to discrimination, How did you feel?
• If you were given the opportunity to meet anyone in the world, living or dead, who would you want to meet and why?
• Why do you think we pay taxes?  Do you believe taxes are necessary?  What do you think our tax money is used for?

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Primary English: Creative writing

Australia and new zealand, primary english, tes resources team.

Let young learners' imaginations run wild with help from these creative writing resources

Creative writing can be one of the most rewarding aspects of literacy, however the terror of a blank page can panic even the most willing writers in your class. So, to make sure every pupil has the confidence to put pen to paper, we've hand-picked this selection of lessons, activities and help sheets, all created by the Tes community.

My Lunch is Alive! KS2 creative writing resource

Rainforest Poetry

Creative writing worksheets for KS2

Writing Narratives KS2 Knowledge Organisers Bundle!

Creative Writing Story Prompts

Story Builder

Story Writing Planning Template

Storytime Fairy Tale Pack

Differentiated story mountain

KS2 poetry - write a poem about the seasons

ThinkWritten

300 Fun Writing Prompts for Kids: Story Starters, Journal Prompts & Ideas

Are you a parent or teacher? Here are 300 fun and creative writing prompts for kids to spark the imagination of young writers everywhere. Use these kids writing ideas as journaling prompts, story starters or just for fun!

We may receive a commission when you make a purchase from one of our links for products and services we recommend. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for support!

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It’s never too early to start writing, and so we’ve created this fun list of 300 creative kids writing prompts for teacher and parents to use.

You’ll love these fun ideas for kids writing prompts to use as creative sparks to get young imaginations writing in no time!

These are perfect to use as kids journal writing prompts, as short story writing prompts, or just for exercises to help students and children of all ages tap into their creativity. Maybe your kids will write an essay, maybe a poem, or maybe even a whole book!

Whether you are a teacher or parent looking to inspire your kids to write, or maybe even an adult who would like to practice writing with a more playful and young-hearted approach, I hope you find these creative writing prompts inspiring!

Buy the Printable Cards!  We will always have this list of 300 kids writing prompts available for free, but I’m very excited to now also offer an  ad-free printable version of these prompts  in my online Etsy shop. Thank you for your support!

The Ultimate List of 300 Fun & Creative Writing Prompts for Kids

#1. Imagine a giant box is delivered to your front doorstep with your name on it. What’s inside and what happens when you open it?

#2. Write a short story about what it might be like if you woke up one morning with a mermaid tail.

#3. Which is better, winter or summer? Write about the reasons why you think winter or summer is better.

#4. Write about what would it be like if you had an alligator as a pet.

#5. If you had $1,000, what would you buy and why?

#6. Write a story using these 5 words: apple, train, elephant, paper, banjo

#7. What do you want be when you grow up and why?

#8. Who is your favorite person on the planet? What do you like most about that person?

#9. If you could have any secret super power, what would you want it to be and why?

#10. Write about 3 places you would like to travel someday. What do these three places have in common?

#11. Write about a time you felt really happy. What happened? What made you feel happy?

#12. Imagine what would happen if someone shrunk you down to be only 1″ tall. How would your life change?

#13. If you were in charge of the whole world, what would you do to make the world a happier place?

#14. Write a story about what it would be like to climb to the very top of the highest mountain in the world.

#15. If you were in charge of planning the school lunch menu, what foods would you serve each day?

#16. What are some of your favorite animals? What do you like about them?

#17. Imagine that dogs take over the world. What do they make the humans do?

#18. Write a story about flying to outer space and discovering a new planet.

#19. You are a mad scientist and have invented a new vegetable. What is it called? What does it look like? What does it taste like? Most importantly: Is it safe to eat?

#20. You go to school one morning to discover your best friend has been turned into a frog by an evil witch! How do you help your friend?

#21. Describe what it is like when trees lose all of their leaves in the autumn season.

#22. Write about your favorite sport and why you like it so much.

#23. Imagine what it might be like to live on a boat all the time and write about it.

#24. If you had one wish, what would it be?

#25. Write about what you might do if you have the super power to become invisible.

#26. You are walking through the forest when one of the trees starts talking to you. What does it say? What do you do?

#27. The weather forecast is calling for a blizzard in the middle of the summer. What do you do?

#28. What types of transportation will people have in the future?

#29. What were some of your favorite toys when you very little? Do you still enjoy playing with them?

#30. What would a day in your life be like if you were a movie star?

#31. Imagine you’ve invented a time machine! What year do you travel to?

#32. What are your favorite things to do over summer vacation?

#33. What is your favorite holiday and why?

#34. If you could meet any fictional character from a book, who would it be?

#35. You are writing a travel guide for kids visiting your city. What places do you think they should visit?

#36. What is a food you hate? Write about it!

#37. Imagine what it would be like if there was no electricity. What would be different in your daily routine?

#38. You are building a new city! What types of things do you think your city needs? How will you convince people to move to your new city?

#39. What is your favorite movie? Write your review of the movie and why you think people should watch it.

#40. Imagine you get a magic sweater for your birthday. What happens when you wear the sweater? What do you do with these new found magical powers?

#41. You are the security guard at the zoo and someone has stolen a rhinoceros! How do you track down the thief?

#42. You have been invited to have lunch with the queen. What foods do you eat and what topics do you and the queen discuss?

#43. If you could design a school uniform, what types of clothes would you suggest? What colors would they be?

#44. Imagine you are a reporter interviewing a celebrity about their life. What questions do you ask?

#45. You are running a lemonade stand. Describe the steps for how you make lemonade and the types of customers you see during the day.

#46. Write a story about being the ruler of an underwater world.

#47. Write an acrostic poem for the word “treehouse”.

#48. You decide to grow a sunflower, but the sunflower grows so tall it reaches up to the sky! Write about what happens when you decide to climb to the top. What do you discover?

#49. Imagine you look out the window and it is raining popsicles from the sky! Write a story about the experience.

#50. If you could be any animal, which one would you be and why?

#51. If you were on a spaceship, what would you be most excited about seeing?

#52. Do you have any pets at home? Write an essay about how you take care of your pets. If you do not have a pet, what type of pet might you like?

#53. Imagine you are opening a store that only sells items which are blue. What types of items do you sell?

#54. Have you ever lost something that is important to you? Were you able to find it?

#55. Write a story about a kid who is moving to a new school. How do you think they might feel?

#56. Rewrite the ending of your favorite fairy tale. For example, what would have happened if Cinderella never went to the ball?

#57. Have you ever forgotten to do your homework? What happened?

#58. Do you have a favorite song? Write about the type of music you like to listen to.

#59. Imagine your parents wake you up one morning to tell you they will take you to do anything you want to do for the whole day – you don’t even have to go to school or do your chores. What would you choose to do and why?

#60. Do you like amusement parks? What are some of your favorite rides?

#61. Write a story using these three words: detective, piano, and pizza.

#62. Have you ever been to the beach? Write about your favorite things to do. If you have never been to the beach, what would you like to do the first time you visit?

#63. Is there a favorite tv show you like to watch? Write about your favorite character and why they are your favorite.

#64. Write a poem using onomatopoeia , where the words you use are pronounced similar to the sound they make. For example, buzz, bark, sizzle, slam and pop.

#65. Have you ever had to stand in line to wait a long time for something? What did you do while you waited? How did you feel while waiting? How did you feel once the wait was over?

#66. Is it a good idea to keep ALL secrets a secret? Write about examples of when it is okay to spill a secret – and when it isn’t.

#67. Is there something you are good at doing? Write about your best strengths.

#68. What historical time period and location would you go back to live in if you could? Write about it!

#69. Write about 5 things you can do that are important for you to stay healthy and safe.

#70. Do you think thunderstorms are scary? Why or why not?

#71. What would you most like to learn over the next year? Think about things that interest you or questions you might have about the world and make a list!

#72. You are going on a trip to a jungle safari! What items do you pack in your suitcase?

#73. Imagine you are sitting at home one day and you hear someone shrieking in the living room they see a mouse in the house! Write a story about what might happen next.

#74. You are writing a letter to someone who is having a hard time making new friends at school. What do you write? What advice do you give them?

#75. Imagine you just met a magician – but their beloved rabbit who they pull out of a hat for all the tricks has been kidnapped! How do you help find the rabbit?

#76. Do you hear what I hear? Set a timer for 5 minutes and write about all of the sounds you hear in those 5 minutes.

#77. Imagine you go to get a haircut and they accidentally shave your head! How do you feel about that and what would you do?

#78. Do you find it easy to talk to people you don’t know? What are some ways you can start up a conversation with someone you have never met before?

#79. Are there any chores you have to do at home? What are they? What do you like – and not like – about each one?

#80. Open up a random book to any page. Write for 5 minutes about the first word you read.

#81. Pretend you are a writer for your city’s newspaper. Who would you like to interview for a news story and why?

#82. There are many fictional characters who live in unusual houses, such as the old woman who lived in a shoe. What kind of unusual house would you like to live in? Write about what it would be like to live in an unusual house!

#83. Write a list of 10 things you can do to practice kindness to others.

#84. Is there a homework subject you dread? Why do you not like getting homework in that subject?

#85. What is your favorite month of the year? Write about why you like it and some of your favorite things to do during that month.

#86. Imagine you are planning a surprise birthday party for someone. How do you keep it a surprise?

#87. Pretend you walked outside to find a sleeping dragon in the grass! Why is the dragon there? Is it a friendly dragon? What do you do? Write about it!

#88. What are you grateful for today and why?

#89. You were on your way to a very important event when you fell into a puddle. Now what?

#90. Have you ever watched a movie and didn’t like how it ended? Write what you think should happen instead.

#91. Can you answer this riddle from Alice in Wonderland ? How is a raven like a writing desk?

#92. Imagine you are the captain of a pirate ship. Write a diary entry for what your day was like.

#93. If you could start any type of business, what kind of business would you start? What types of products or services would you provide?

#94. Write a sequel to one of your favorite fairy tales. For example, what was Goldilocks’s next adventure after she left the bears?

#95. What is something you are afraid of? What helps you to feel less afraid of something? What would you say to a friend who feels scared to help them feel less afraid?

#96. Write a letter to your future self in 20 years.

#97. In addition to basic survival needs such as food, water, air and shelter, what are 3 things you would you need to be happy?

#98. If you could invent a robot of any type who could do anything you imagine, what types of things would you would have the robot to do?

#99. Which do like better? Apples or Oranges? How are they alike? How are they different?

#100. Why did the chicken cross the road? You are a detective and are assigned to the case. How do solve the mystery?

#101. Write instructions for how to make your favorite snack. Be sure you add your favorite tips and suggestions for how to select the best ingredients!

#102. Imagine you borrowed a friend’s favorite lucky pencil to help you pass a math test – but then it snapped in half! How will you ever tell the news to your friend?

#103. Look around the current room you are sitting in and choose 3 random objects that are nearby. Now write a story or poem that includes those three items!

#104. Write a letter to the author of a book you recently read and tell them what you liked most about the book.

#105. Ernest Hemingway is famous for writing a six word story. Can you write a story in just 6 words?

#106. What do you think will be the future for cell phones? Will people still use them in 25 years or will something else take its place?

#107. Do you want to go to college? Why or why not?

#108. Write a story or poem about a kitten who wanders off and gets lost. How does the kitten find its way home?

#109. Currently, it is required by law that kids go to school. Do you think this is a good or bad idea?

#110. If you could invent a new board game, what would it be called? How is it played? What are the rules? What makes it fun to play? Write about it!

#111. Imagine you come home to discover your entire bedroom is covered in ketchup! What on earth happened? What is your reaction? How do you clean everything up?

#112. What is something you learned today?

#113. Would you rather have a goldfish or shark as a pet?

#114. From A-Z: make a list of something for every letter of the alphabet.

#115. Have you ever gone fishing? If you have, did you like it? Why or why not? If you haven’t, do you think you might want to?

#116. What is one of the most important things you do each and every day?

#117. Write a story about Gretchen the Grouch, a girl who is always angry! Will she ever be happy? Why is she so grumpy all of the time?

#118. How do you feel when someone takes something of yours without asking? What is a good way to deal with it when that happens?

#119. Write a poem that starts with the word “if”.

#120. Write a story about a family of rabbits who live in the woods. What are some of the challenges they face?

#121. What clothes do you think are the most comfortable? What kind of clothes do you like to wear the most? What clothes do you NOT like to wear?

#122. Imagine there are no grocery stores and you must get your own food. What are some of the ways you find food? What types of things do you eat?

#123. What are 3 things you can do that are good for the environment?

#124. If you could meet any famous person today, who would you want to meet and why? What questions might you ask them?

#125. A tongue twister is a quick poem where many of the words start with the same letter and are similar in sound. For example, “Peter picked a peck of pickled peppers.” Try writing your own with this fun kids writing prompt!

#126. What is the first thing you think of when you hear or see the word green?

#127. A hero is someone who is admired for their courage and achievements. What do you think makes someone a hero? Who are some of your heroes?

#128. What did you do during summer vacation last year? What do you want to do for summer vacation this year?

#129. Write a story about a super hero dog who saves the day! Who does the dog help and why?

#130. Would you rather live somewhere that is always cold, or somewhere that is always hot? Write about which one you would rather choose.

#131. Have you ever volunteered to help a charity? If so, write about the experience! If not, what are some charities you think you might like to volunteer for?

#132. What does the word courage mean to you?

#133. What makes you unique? What are some things about you that make you an individual?

#134. Have you ever been to a museum? What is your favorite thing to look at on display?

#135. What can you do to set a good example for others to be kind?

#136. A Tall Tale is a story that exaggerates something that actually happened. Write a tall tale about something that recently happened to you.

#137. What is one of your favorite toys that you think you might still want to have and play with when you are 22 years old?

#138. Oh no! Everyone around you is sick with a nasty cold! Write a silly poem about how you try to avoid catching their germs!

#139. Personification is when a non-living object takes on human characteristics. Write a story where you personify a common electronic gadget in your house, such as the Television or toaster.

#140. Write a poem using similes, which is when you say an object is like something else. Here is an example of a simile: “Her eyes were as blue as the sky.”

#141. Have you ever read a book written by Dr. Suess? Write your own “Suess-style” story, complete with rhymes and made up words.

#142. Do you have any siblings? Think about what it might mean to be a good brother or sister and write about it!

#143. Make a list of questions to interview your parents or grandparents about what it was like when they were growing up as a kid. Then, ask them the questions and write about their answers!

#144. You are in charge of writing a new radio show just for kids! What topics will you talk about? What music do you play?

#145. What do you usually eat for breakfast every day? What, in your opinion, is the greatest breakfast food ever created? What makes it so great?

#146. Write a 12 line poem where every line is about a different month of the year.

#147. What is something you look forward to doing the most when you are an adult?

Use these prompts in your classroom!  Get the  ad-free printable version of these prompts  to inspire your students to write! Thank you for your support!

#148. Do you like to try new things? What is something new you have tried recently or would like to try?

#149. Imagine what it might be like to be alive in Egypt when the pyramids were built. Write about what it was like.

#150. A credo is a statement of personal beliefs. Try writing your own credo for things that you believe in and feel are important.

#151. The circus has come to town but they have no place to perform! How do you help the ringmaster find a place to put on a show?

#152. Do you like to act? What are some of your favorite actors or actresses? What do you think makes someone a good actor or actress?

#153. “Practice makes perfect” is a popular saying. What is something you like to practice so you can become better at it? A sport? A musical instrument? A special skill? Do you like to practice?

#154. Write about what it might be like to be water drops freezing and turning into ice.

#155. Do you think it is important to keep your room clean? What do you like about having a clean room?

#156. Imagine your parents are sending you away for a two week summer camp trip. Would you be excited? Why or why not?

#157. What are you currently learning about in history class? Write a fictional story about someone from the past you are learning about.

#158. Many wars have been fought in the past. Instead of going to war, what do you think countries could do to resolve their differences peacefully?

#159. Every year over 8 billion plastic bottles and cans are thrown away. What are some things you can do to help encourage your family and friends to recycle?

#160. Imagine if you were the principal of the school. What might you do differently? What things would you do that are the same? Write about it!

#161. Pretend that one day you are at your neighbor’s house and you notice a strange noise coming from the basement. You go downstairs to investigate to see a large machine running with many lights and buttons. Why is it there?

#162. Write an essay that starts with the line, “Tomorrow, I hope…”

#163. If you could give one thing to every child in the world, what would you want to give them?

#164. Do you have a piggy bank at home? How do you earn money to add to your savings?

#165. What qualities make a house a home? What are 3 things you think every house should have?

#166. Would you rather go scuba diving or rock climbing? Write about which one you think you would like to do more and why.

#167. Do you think it is a good idea for kids to write a daily journal? What are some of the benefits of writing every day?

#168. Do you like watching fireworks or are they too noisy? Write about a time when you saw fireworks in the sky.

#169. Oh no! Your friend has turned into a statue! How did this happen? What do you do? Does your friend ever turn back into a person again?

#170. If you could be any movie character, who would you be and why?

#171. A mysterious message appears in code on your computer screen. What could it mean?

#172. If you could go to work with one of your parents for a day, what do you think the day would be like? What types of things do your parents do at work all day long?

#173. Imagine you are the President and you are creating a new national holiday. What is your holiday about? How is it celebrated? What day of the year do you celebrate? Write about it!

#174. You won a never-ending lifetime supply of spaghetti noodles! What will you do with all of these noodles?

#175. Would you rather be a bunny rabbit or a hawk? Why did you choose the one you chose?

#176. Your teacher has been acting mysterious lately. After school one day, you notice a weird green light shining through underneath the door of your classroom. What do you do? What is happening with your teacher?

#177. Write an article about tips for how kids can be more organized and study well for tests.

#178. Look at any product in your house and read the ingredients labels. Research what each ingredient is. Do you think these ingredients are good or bad for people?

#179. If you were a doctor, what do you think would be the most important part of your job every day?

#180. The school librarian needs your help! A truck just arrived with 2,000 books and she can’t fit all the books onto the shelves! What do you do? How do you find a place to put all these books?

#181. Do you think it would be fun to plant a garden? What types of plants would you want to grow? Write about your garden ideas.

#182. What is a sport or activity you would like to try playing for the first time?

#183. Do you think kids should be allowed to do the same things as adults? What things do you think kids should be able to do that only grown-ups can?

#184. Imagine you and your parents switch places for a day. Your parents are the kids and you are now in charge! What would you do?

#185. Write a get-well letter to someone who has been sick. What can you say to make them feel better?

#186. If you could visit any planet in the solar system, which planet would you like to visit the most and why? Write about what it might be like.

#187. Have you ever been to a farm? What did you like about it? If you haven’t been to a farm, do you think you might like to visit one? Why or why not?

#188. The mayor of the city has a big problem and needs your help! What is the problem and how will you solve it?

#189. Pretend your little sister ate carrots for dinner and the next morning woke up with rabbit ears!  How did this happen? What do you do? Will she be a rabbit forever?

#190. Imagine you wake up in the morning to find out you get to relive any day of your life again for the whole day. What day would you want to experience again and why?

#191. Do you think you might like to be a firefighter? Why or why not?

#192. You are a lawyer and your client has been accused of stealing a car. How do you convince the jury your client is innocent?

#193. Think of the four elements: fire, air, earth, and water. Which of these four elements do you like the best?

#194. What would you do if you could be invisible for a whole day? Do you think you would enjoy it or be glad to be back to normal the next day? Write about it!

#195. Imagine you are a meteorologist and people are starting to get angry that your weather predictions are always wrong. What do you do?

#196. If you could create any law, what would it be? Why do you think the law is an important one to have?

#197. You are going incognito and need to hide to your identity so you aren’t recognized or discovered while you walk through the city. What type of disguise do you wear?

#198. Write a persuasive letter to your parents explaining why you should get a new pet. Make sure you provide a convincing argument they won’t be able to refuse!

#199. Your friend wants to do something dangerous. What should you do?

#200. How do you think the world would be different if there were no oceans?

#201. What do you do when someone disagrees with your opinions? Is there a better way to handle conflicting opinions?

#202. What do you think you as a kid could do to help encourage more people to read?

#203. Do you have a good luck charm? What makes this item lucky? When do you use it? How do you use it?

#204. What is at the end of a rainbow? Imagine you follow a rainbow to the end. What do you discover? Is it a pot of gold, or something else?

Use these prompts in your classroom!  Get the  ad-free printable version of these prompts  to inspire your students to write! Thank you for your support!

#205. What do you think the consequences should be for someone who is caught cheating on a test at school?

#206. Imagine you are riding your bike one day when you encounter an older kid who wants to steal your bike. What do you do?

#207. You are the lead singer and star of a famous rock and roll band, but there is one problem – your drummer is jealous of your fame! How do you solve this situation?

#208. If you could help a group of kids in any part of the world, what kids would you want to help the most and why? What are some things you think would help these kids?

#209. Everyone knows the house on the end of the street is haunted. What are some of the strange things that happen there? Why is the house haunted?

#210. You notice at school one day there is a door to a secret passage next to the janitor’s closet and decide to explore. Where does it lead? Why is it there? Do you go alone or bring a friend along?

#211. A bucket list is a list of things you want to accomplish in your lifetime. What are 5 things on your bucket list?

#212. Imagine the perfect treehouse or clubhouse for you and all of your friends as a place to hang out. Describe what it is like inside.

#213. Do you get bored easily? Make a list of things you can do whenever you feel like you are bored and there is nothing fun to do!

#214. Now vs. Then: Think about how today is different from one year ago. How have you changed? What things in your life are different?

#215. Write your autobiography about your life.

#216. It’s a heat wave! What do you do when the weather is hot? What are some of your favorite ways to stay cool?

#217. What are three important safety tips every kid should know to stay safe?

#218. What genre of books do you like to read the most? Write about the characteristics of the genre and list some of your favorite books as examples.

#219. Holiday Traditions: How does your family celebrate the different holidays and events? What are some traditions you do each and every year?

#220. Imagine one day in science class a science experiment goes terribly wrong and now you and all of your classmates have superpowers! What are your superpowers and what do you do with them?

#221. Who is favorite teacher? Why are they your favorite?

#222. You are baking a cake, but you accidentally put salt in the cake instead of sugar. Nobody will eat it! How do you feel? What will you do next time?

#223. Do you think it is important to have good table manners? What do you think some good manners to practice might be?

#224. Many schools no longer teach cursive handwriting. Do you think this is a good or bad thing? Do you know how to write cursive handwriting? Would you like to learn if you haven’t?

#225. If you were the owner of a theme park, what types of rides and attractions would have? Describe what they would be like and why people would want to visit your park.

#226. Your parents give you $100 to spend at the grocery store. What do you buy and why?

#227. Some people who are alive today grew up without computers or video games. What would you do if you didn’t have a computer or video games? How would life be different?

#228. You walk into your living room and discover there is a giant elephant standing there. How did the elephant get there? What do you do about it? How do you explain the elephant in the living room to your parents?

#229. Have you ever had a weird dream? What happened in the dream? What do you think it means?

#230. Do you like to draw or paint? Write a story inspired by a painting, doodle, or sketch.

#231. You are being sent on a mission to outer space to live in a space station for 5 years. What supplies do you pack and why?

#232. What is the scariest creature alive on earth? Describe in detail what makes it so horrifying.

#233. What do you think your pet might say if they could talk to you?

#234. Imagine your school is putting on a talent show. What act will you perform? What other acts will be in the show?

#235. If you could breathe under water, what would you do?

#236. What time of day do you think school should start? Write a convincing argument on why or why not the time of day school starts should change.

#237. If you were to start your own YouTube video channel, what would the videos on your channel be about?

#238. Do you like to cook? What are some things you like to make and eat?

#239. Your school is having a field day and you are in charge of planning the activities and games. What types of activities and games would you plan for the event?

#240. If you had a remote control drone that takes video of everything it sees from the sky and you could take it anywhere, what would you film? For example, the inside of a volcano or soar it over the plains of Africa.

#241. The Bermuda Triangle is an area of the ocean where many ships and planes have gone missing. Why do you think this could be? Write a story about what it might be like to travel there.

#242. There are 7 great wonders of the world – which one do you think is the most wonderful?

#243. If you could speak any foreign language fluently, which one would you like to speak and why?

#244. You are inventing a new flavor of ice cream! What is the new flavor called and what ingredients do you need to make it?

#245. Would you rather go to a baseball game or read a good book? What reasons do you have for your choice?

#246. You walk outside to get your mail and your mailbox starts talking to you! What does your mailbox have to say?

#247. Imagine you are a famous person. What are you most famous for? What is it like to be famous?

#248. What do you think would be the most fun job in the world to have? Give examples of why you think it would be a fun job to have.

#249. Write a poem about an object that is shiny and dazzling.

#250. Do you like to watch the Olympics? Why or why not? If yes, what is your favorite Olympic sport?

#251. What kind of car do you want to drive when you are older? Do you think learning to drive will be easy or hard?

#252. What do you think would make for a great gift to give someone on their birthday?

#253. Describe a time when you needed help and someone helped you. What did they help you with and how did it make you feel?

#254. If you could be any type of fruit or vegetable, what would you be and why?

Love these prompts?  Get the  ad-free printable version of these prompts  to use at home or in the classroom!

#255. Do you think it is more important to have a good imagination or have all the facts proven?

#256. Do you have a favorite aunt, uncle, or another relative? Write a story about their life and why you like to be with them.

#257. Think of a time you laughed really, really hard. What was so funny? Why were you laughing? Write about it!

#258. Write a poem about an emotion. For example: happy, sad, angry, embarrassed, guilty.

#259. Do you ever have a hard time falling asleep? What are some things that help you feel sleepy?

#260. If you could drive a car, where would you drive and why?

#261. Imagine you are trading places with your friend for a day. What will it be like to be at their house? What will your friend think while they are at your house? Write about it!

#262. If you could break a world record, what would it be? What do you think would be necessary to be able to break the world record?

#263. Imagine you live in Colonial times. What would it be like to grow up as a kid in Colonial America?

#264. You are building a new city. What is the name of your city? What is the weather like? What buildings will you build?

#265. What do you think it would be like to work as a sailor on big ship in the ocean each day?

#266. Imagine you are the teacher for the day. What types of activities do you make the students in the class do?

#267. How would you feel if your parents told you that you would be getting a new baby brother or sister? Write about it!

#268. Do you know any good jokes? What are some of your favorite jokes? What makes them funny? Do you think you could write your own?

#269. Imagine you are floating down a river on a raft. What types of things can you see from the river that you normally wouldn’t see from the land?

#270. You want to start a new hobby collecting something. What kinds of things would you collect and why?

#271. Your mom announces she is having a yard sale. Would you let her sell any of your things? Why or why not?

#272. Imagine you walk out your front door one morning and it is raining popcorn! What do you do?

#273.  You are camping in the woods one night and hear a scary noise. What do you do? What might be the cause?

#274. What do you think might make kids really happy to go to school? What are some things you think schools should do so that it could be more fun?

#275. Today’s lunch at the cafeteria was unusually horrible. You are a detective on the case to investigate. What do you think is the cause?

#276. If you had a tree that grows money, what would you do?

#277. What would you do if you had a unicorn as a pet?

#278. Would you rather go to the zoo or go to the aviary? Which one would you pick and why?

#279. What are some safety tips you should follow when riding a bike?

#280. You are designing the cover of a magazine. What are some of the headlines on the cover?

#281. Are you afraid of the dark? Why or why not?

#282. If you could learn to play any type of musical instrument, which one would you like to learn how to play and why?

#283. Imagine you are playing a sport that involves a ball, such as soccer, baseball or kickball. What would it be like if the ball could talk?

#284. You come home to discover a friendly alien has been living in your closet. What do you do? Why is there an alien in your closet?

#285. Is there something you are afraid of that you wish you weren’t afraid of? Write about it.

#286. Write about the best party you’ve ever been to. What made the day fun and special?

#287. What makes you feel loved and cared about? What are some ways people can show you that they love and care about you?

#288. There is a kite flying competition coming up and you are going to design your own kite. What will your kite look like? What colors will it be? Will it have any certain shape?

#289. You are given the challenge to drop an egg on the floor – without it breaking! What are some things you might try to make sure the egg won’t break?

#290. What are some of the things you can do every day to stay healthy?

#291. Do you think grown-ups are boring? Why do you think they are so boring all of the time? What is something fun that boring grown-ups could do instead of being so boring?

#292. Write a lyrical poem or song about what kids do while they are at school all day long.

#293. What are the first things you like to do when you are done with school each day? What are some of the activities you like when you are not at school?

#294. Imagine dinosaurs were still alive today. How do you think our lives would be different?

#295. Would you rather visit a volcano or a desert? Which one would you choose and why?

#296. Is there a sound you think is annoying? What types of sounds drive you crazy? Write about them!

#297. What do you think it would be like to be the size of an ant for a day? What types of things would you do?

#298. Imagine one of your stuffed animals comes to life and starts talking to you. What types of things will you talk about? What will you do?

#299. What makes you feel happiest? Write about the things in life that make you feel happy!

#300. Imagine there is no gravity. What kind of things would you do you for fun? How would some of the things you already do for fun be different?

Buy the Printable Cards!  We will always have this list of 300 kids writing prompts available for free, but I’m very excited to now also offer an  ad-free printable version of these prompts  in my online Etsy shop. Thank you for your support!

Parents and teachers, I hope you enjoyed these 300 writing prompts for kids and that you will use them to inspire your children’s creative imaginations.

These prompts of course can be used in a number of different ways and can be adapted for a variety of different styles of writing !

What do you think? Do you think these are good conversation and story starters for kids? Do you have any ideas for writing prompts you would like to share?

And of course, if you’d like to make it super fun and easy to use these prompts at home or in your classroom, be sure to get our ad-free printable version of these kids writing prompt cards now available in my Etsy shop.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on different creative writing ideas and topics for kids to write about! Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Chelle Stein wrote her first embarrassingly bad novel at the age of 14 and hasn't stopped writing since. As the founder of ThinkWritten, she enjoys encouraging writers and creatives of all types.

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48 comments.

These are awesome! I feel like answering the questions myself! Thanks a million!

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed them! 🙂

Lovely and amazing help

I wrote all 300! but my fingers hurt badly now. :l But i got to admit these are exellent questions!

Hi. Thanks for this list. So many great ideas. I will definitely use some of them for my Language Arts class.

hi people THIS WAS SO LONG but so worth it for my class thx mate

This was great for homework

Thank you for the topics. It was really helpful

Your writing prompts are awesome

These are amazing! Thank you so much for sharing. I will definitely be using it with my kids.

Thank you! I hope they enjoy the writing prompts!

I love these, they are awesome and very helpful too. Thank you very much.

these questions hooked me on easily thanks your the best!

They are all good prompts

This is always good and improves the brain.

These are very useful and very enjoyable topics, i enjoy by giving these to my students , their creations are marvelous

It’s was very long but worth it

This is good. I love it. It helps me in my studies. I share it with my friends children that likes the writing. We love it. Please, think of another writing.

Thanks! Worth printing and providing for my middle school students as a first week of the year activity. Must have taken you ages to come up with all 300 of these!

I’m glad to hear you can use them for your students! It did take some time, but it’s well worth it knowing it might inspire kids to write! 🙂

You need a printable version of this!!

Hi Katelyn, we have one! https://gumroad.com/UBnsO Hope you enjoy!

The link doesn’t seem to be working for me… Could you send me a copy of the list, please?

Hi Tori, the printable version of this post is available as an ad-free paid upgrade – you can purchase it through my Gumroad store: https://gum.co/UBnsO

I quite liked your ideas, I’ll try a few, surely!

How long did it take for you guys to make 300 ideas?

Definitely took some time Vilenti, but it was definitely worth writing all of them! Our prompts reach over a million people a year and are used in literacy, poverty, and mental health programs worldwide. 🙂

These were awesome, thanks a TON

i have school work and this is one thing i do.

i do this for school work to

i do this for school work

Hello Chelle, thanks a lot for this. During these tough Covid times, I find your list to be a great idea to engage kids. Have got them started on some today. Hopefully this will be a long term engagement for them.

The prompts are grrrreat

This was really helpful i have looked for a lot of these, that have a lot of topics and only found one other good one and finished it all, i got to 17 and was like are they all this good! And they all are so thanks!

Glad you enjoyed them!

These are awesome

These are amazing! Thank you so much for sharing.

I loved looking at these prompts!! They were very helpful. I am loving writing and supporting my claims with these prompts. You should post more ideas!! Thanks for sharing the prompts.

Do you have any more?

This really was think written

I’d like to use a few of your questions in a journal for adults that I am creating for sale. I will absolutely credit you at the beginning of the book. Is that okay with you or not? I don’t want to infringe on any copyright laws. I think I used about ten of them.

Hi Kristen, you cannot use these prompts for products for sale, that would definitely be an infringement on copyright. These prompts can only be used for non-commercial use.

this is the greatest app ever

I like all the questions

thank you for all the ideas they are so good

OMG These are all very good and many questions i like all these Thankyou soooooooooooo much for these

I’m in class doing this and it is so fun yes every body is doing this

I LOVE these! My daughter and I stumbled across a post full of fun writing prompts on another website but they were more geared for adults. This list is HUGE and perfect for us to tackle together. Thank you! ❤️

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What your child will learn at school

In Year 1 (age 5–6), your child will learn to:

• Saying what they are going to write about out loud
• Composing a sentence orally before writing it
• Sequencing sentences to form short narratives
• Re-reading what they have written to check that it makes sense.
• Discuss what they have written with the teacher or other pupils
• Read aloud their writing clearly enough to be heard by their peers and the teacher.

Handwriting, spelling, grammar, and punctuation are all important aspects of writing too. You can find out more about them on our dedicated pages:

Handwriting in Year 1 (age 5-6)

Find out more about handwriting in Year 1 at Primary School.

Find out more

Spelling in Year 1 (age 5-6)

Find out more about spelling in Year 1 at Primary School.

Grammar and punctuation in Year 1 (age 5-6)

Find out more about grammar and punctuation in Year 1 at Primary School.

• Age 5–6 (Year 1)
• Age 6–7 (Year 2)
• Age 7–8 (Year 3)
• Age 8–9 (Year 4)
• Age 9–10 (Year 5)
• Age 10–11 (Year 6)
• Year 1 (age 5–6)
• Year 2 (age 6–7)
• Year 3 (age 7–8)
• Year 4 (age 8–9)
• Year 5 (age 9–10)
• Year 6 (age 10–11)
• Grammar glossary
• Grammar books

CreativEdge Learning

5 steps to write a picture composition for primary 1.

Introduction to picture composition writing for Primary 1

For picture composition for Primary 1, there are 4 connected pictures which come together to form a complete incident.

With the 4-pictures format, pupils are to write a complete story by sequentially detailing the incident as shown in the 4 pictures.

How to plan and write a composition

The first step is to know the story structure – what are the important story elements that each composition must include.

With Primary 1 pupils, the SPACE planning strategy is a simple yet effective planning tool for pupils to understand the planning of story structure.

1) S for Setting

Using the ‘W’s , the setting tells the reader the the time (When), place (Where) and main character (Who) of the story.

To identify the setting elements, we generally look at Picture 1 of the given topic.

For Question 1, the answer for the place is definitely according to Picture 1 .

There is more than one right answer for the day and time in Question 2. In this case, it can be any day from Monday to Friday during school hours.

To answer Question 3a, pupils must select the main character who should play a major role in the story. They must give the main character a sensible name.

For Question 3b, the main character’s action should be written according to what the main character was doing in Picture 1.

Now, we can use the answers to start the composition.

How to write the composition – Introduction Paragraph

2) P for Purpose

Next, we will identify the purpose of the story. Pupils can look at Picture 2 for the purpose.

It is important that pupils understand that composition writing goes beyond picture description.

This is the part that pupils need to tap on their imagination and see beyond the pictures to form a story.

In this case, think of a possible reason that the main character was queuing up.

3) A for Action

A purpose leads to an action.

This means that when the main character wanted to do something, it will lead to an action happening,

In this case, Picture 3 shows the action.

The main character was going to place her order when it was her turn. However, two boys shoved her aside.

How to write the composition (Introduction + Body Paragraphs)

The answers for the Purpose and Action can then be added on to continue forming the composition

4) C for Conclusion

A complete story requires a conclusion which tells the reader what happened at the end of the story as well as the lesson learnt.

For the conclusion, pupils should see beyond the pictures and think about what the main character did that led to Picture 4.

In this case, she should have informed a teacher who then scolded the boys.

How to write the composition (Introduction + Body + Conclusion Paragraphs)

We can add the conclusion to form the last part of the story.

5) E for Emotions

Now that the entire story is complete. The emotions (feelings) of the main character can be inserted to complete the story.

As highlighted in our earlier post , do focus on specific adjectives to build the vocabulary word bank.

With SPACE Planning, Primary 1 pupils can learn connect the 4 pictures, see a story using the 4 pictures and to write a story using a proper story structure.

Our Primary 1 English enrichment classes teach pupils the essential writing skills , sentence structures and descriptive vocabulary, setting pupils on the path of being confident writers. Call us today to find out more.

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Effective teaching

Thanks very much for the helping me. This really helped me alot.

But l was expecting a grade six one. But its ok because this also helped me.

This was very helpful

This was very helpful. Can I get some more samples like this?

Thanks a lot. This helped in giving me a clue.

hi..i am so grateful for your help. it help me a lot

Very helpful

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• Our Mission

Planning Writing Lessons for the Early Elementary Grades

Teachers can provide thoughtful instruction that supports the sustained development of young students’ literacy skills.

Often, attempting to plan effective and purposeful writing instruction raises many questions: What does lesson planning look like? How will I manage so many students who may be in different stages of their writing? How often should they be editing and revising? The list doesn’t stop there.

By utilizing on-demand writing for assessment and long-range writing for scaffolded practice of applying various writing techniques, teachers can approach their instruction with intentional and tailored lessons that meet the needs of the learners in the classroom, as well as help students develop self-regulated behaviors when crafting a piece of text.

On-Demand Writing

Just like any area of instruction, assessment is critical for knowing what the students’ strengths and areas of growth are, and on-demand writing is how teachers can gather that evidence. An on-demand piece of writing simply means that the teacher provides a specific prompt for the student to write to for the purpose of anecdotal data. For example, let’s say a second-grade teacher prepares for a narrative writing cycle. In the first couple of days before the cycle begins, they’ll ask students to write a narrative about something fun they’ve experienced (with their family or a friend). 

After the prompt is given, students get one or two days to write and are provided with all necessary tools to carry out the process of developing a piece of writing without additional modeling or instruction. Effective tools might include graphic organizers, writing paper, tools for editing, and a writing checklist. However, the teacher will not model how to use the tools. The teacher is informally assessing if the students know how to use these resources to develop a story.

After students complete their piece, the teacher collects them for analysis. It is critically important to determine realistic expectations for what writing should look like throughout various points of the year, so creating a common rubric as a grade level is a great way to stay on the same page for analyzing the assessment. 

Writing growth, similar to reading, happens along a continuum of skills. At the beginning of the year, a second grader can’t be expected to write like an end-of-the-year second grader because they haven’t been taught the grade-level skills necessary to do so yet. On-demand benchmark assessments along the way will gradually raise the expectation of what that student should be able to do. Websites such as Reading Rockets and Achieve the Core provide useful anchor examples of real student writing in various genres that provide annotated explanations of students’ overall writing ability and possible next steps for instruction.

As students engage in daily lessons about crafting a narrative within the instructional cycle of a long-range writing piece, another on-demand prompt may be given at the halfway point of the cycle to track growth and drive future instruction. This could be the same prompt as before or a prompt given in response to a story or passage the student has read.  

It’s important to remember that it’s easy to fall into the trap of using writing prompts daily for students to produce writing simply because it’s easy to manage. If we use this approach exclusively, we rob our students of the opportunity to dive deeply into producing self-chosen, elaborate pieces full of voice and author’s craft.

Long-Range Writing

Long-range pieces give students the autonomy to choose their own writing topic while the teacher assists in walking them through the process. This type of instruction instills the executive-functioning behaviors needed when students are asked to write a piece on demand. When considering how to implement this type of writing instruction, it can be overwhelming. Breaking down long-range instruction using the following components allows for a more manageable approach.

Keep your lesson mini: A mini lesson is 15 to 20 minutes long and organized in a gradual release format, and it allows the teacher to model a specific, focused lesson. For example, narrative writing could be broken into the following mini lessons for a beginning-of-the-year cycle for second grade: introduce and describe a setting, introduce and describe the character, edit on the go (this means to stop and edit before we add more writing), describe the first event in the narrative, introduce a problem, etc. Essentially, each lesson will invite students to add to their story one chunk at a time.

Model, provide independent practice: The teacher begins by modeling one learning target using a well-crafted organizer . An effective organizer teaches students that each genre has a specific structure. As learners begin to recognize the pattern in text structure, they can replicate it when assessed in on-demand pieces. For example, the teacher can start by using a text that clearly introduces and describes the setting, and then read that page out loud and ask students what they notice about how the author introduced the setting.  

Next, students are invited to help the teacher write a setting to a story together by offering verbal suggestions. The teacher records the students’ ideas and writes an example introduction in the organizer. Then students think about an idea for an introduction of a setting on their own and are prompted to talk to a partner about their story. The students verbally rehearse what they plan to write, as this provides them an opportunity to organize their thoughts and prepares them to get started as soon as they are released to write independently, using the same organizer that the teacher used to model the mini lesson.  

The benefit of this approach is that it gives the teacher time to provide specific feedback over the same crafting element. Having every student write their complete thoughts directly in the organizer in a chunked manner allows for a better visual of where to correct capitalization and punctuation. Essentially, each lesson should invite students to write one or two complete sentences that can be quickly edited before adding the next part of the story.  

Share and reflect: Close each lesson by bringing students back together so that they have an opportunity to share what they’ve produced. This time celebrates students’ creativity, as well as giving them an opportunity to reflect on how they can improve their writing.   

Both on-demand writing and long-range writing are vital in developing confident writers across various genres. It’s important to approach them with a cyclical scope and sequence that allows students to learn the craft, structure, and development of narrative, informative, and opinion styles of writing. By scaffolding and supporting students’ growth in each genre of writing, learners will begin to automatically apply these techniques more independently as the year progresses because of the solid foundation that has been built. 

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What is Creative Writing?

Explore eight forms of creative writing, with tips and creative writing exercises to get you started. 

You can bring a creative approach to any kind of writing—a recipe, a textbook, or an email, for example—but “creative writing” means something more specific. The creative writing category can be defined both by what it includes and excludes.

Creative writers are usually not aiming to transmit factual information to people who can use it (as in a recipe, technical writing, academic writing, or even an email). Rather, creative writers tend to have two primary goals that set their writing apart from other forms. Specifically, creative writers aim to: (1) express their unique imaginative perspective and (2) evoke an emotional response in the reader. 

4. Creative Nonfiction

1. stand-up comedy, 2. speeches, 3. musical lyrics, 4. journaling, the bottom line on creative writing forms, the four primary categories of creative writing.

Suppose you study creative writing in the academic context, particularly in an MFA program. In that case, you will typically choose one or more of four big categories of writing: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and drama (plays and screenplays). 

In the context of creative writing, fiction is generally defined to include novels, novellas, and short stories. Fiction is imaginative (generally non-factual) storytelling constructed to take the reader on an emotional journey. Some of the essential literary devices that define fiction writing are setting, character development, point of view, linear cause and effect, a structure with a beginning/middle/end, dialogue, and exposition. 

Some experimental fiction writers deliberately play with or even omit some of these conventions (for example, Kurt Vonnegut experiments with non-linearity in Slaughterhouse Five). However, they are present in nearly all fiction to one degree or another. 

Because fiction is, by definition, not factual, it requires the reader to suspend their disbelief to one degree or another. Of course, some fiction is realist, meaning that it includes places, people, and events that either are real or could have been real. For example, in Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird, the town of Maycomb, the character Scout, and the plot events were made up. However, Lee’s writing was inspired by her childhood, and it is easy to imagine that it could have happened.

Non-realist fiction (such as science fiction, fantasy, or fabulism) uses settings, characters, or events that would be implausible if published as nonfiction but are believable in the context of the author’s fictional world. For example, Karen Russell’s short story “Orange World ” is about a new mother who makes a deal to breastfeed the devil in exchange for her baby’s safety. It would not be plausible as nonfiction, but the emotional urgency parents feel when it comes to protecting their children makes the story emotionally plausible within a fictional world in which the devil exists and makes deals.

Flash fiction (short stories under 1,000 words) are an excellent entry-point for experimenting with writing fiction. If brevity isn’t your strong suit, you can start writing fiction by creating an outline for a story or novel, or writing a detailed character sketch.

Poetry can take many forms, but generally, it is a style of creative writing that is: (1) focused on the aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language, (2) condensed into a tight form with no inessential words, and (3) striving to express an idea or evoke an emotion that is difficult to put into words. Poetry can be fictional (referring to an imagined situation) or essentially nonfiction, based on the poet’s real experiences.

Some forms of poetry are much longer and denser (such as prose poems), while others are brief and leave lots of white space on the page. Some poetry is structured based on rules of rhyme and meter (such as a sonnet), while others are more anarchic (free verse). 

Often poetry uses figurative language, such as similes, metaphors, and allegory, operates on multiple levels at once (the literal and the symbolic), or juxtaposes two unexpected elements. For example, Robert Frost’s short poem “The Road Not Taken” uses the metaphor of a walk in the woods to inspire the reader to think about how they choose the path they take through life. 

To explore the possibilities that poetry has to offer, try choosing a subject and writing three poems about it using three different forms, such as free verse, a sonnet, and an erasure poem. An erasure poem is where you take a page of writing, such as a book page, and strategically redact most of the words with a pen or razor blade, so that the remaining words comprise the poem. 

Have you seen our article on the 15 types of poetry every writer should know .

Although we usually think of creative writing being consumed directly via reading, other forms are consumed indirectly. Such as by observing performers who are enacting the writing. Common forms include theatrical plays, film screenplays, television scripts, and even operas. 

Most drama uses a three-act structure similar to fiction. While drama is usually fiction, some (like the musicals Hamilton and Evita ) are based on a true story and fleshed out using fictional details.

Although these forms of creative writing tell a narrative story, much like fiction, they can use visual and auditory tools that aren’t available on the page. For example, in an early scene in Jordan Peel’s screenplay for the film Get Out , the protagonist and his girlfriend are driving and chatting when “A shadow darts across the road in front of the hood of the car. Its hind legs SMACK the hood of the car with a loud THWAT-THWAT.” Reading that description does not evoke fear, but the film’s audiovisual representation of the car hitting a deer is an effective jump-scare.

Plays and screenplays tend to use a specific format, which consists almost entirely of dialogue, along with very brief passages describing what the actors should do and how the setting should look. If you want to write this form, it is a good idea to watch lots of plays and movies and read plays and screenplays. You can find many film screenplays online with a simple Google search. 

Creative nonfiction differs from fiction, poetry, and drama in that it transmits factual information to the reader. However, its purpose is generally to impact the reader’s thoughts or feelings rather than to provide actionable information (as in the case of other nonfiction, such as a recipe or self-help book). Creative nonfiction can be long-form (such as a memoir) or short form (such as a personal essay) and is virtually always in the first person.

What makes a piece of writing creative nonfiction, as opposed to other forms of nonfiction (such as journalism), is that creative nonfiction borrows the tools of other forms of creative storytelling (particularly fiction and poetry) to tell a true story in an emotionally compelling way. A creative essay might combine the lyricism of poetry, the deep characterization of a novel, and the three-act structure of a play, for example. 

Creative nonfiction can also borrow elements of other nonfiction forms. For example, this excerpt from Maggie Nelson’s memoir Bluets combines poetic phrasing, the dramatization of a scene in prose, and an exploration of the theoretical writings of Goethe and Wittgenstein.

According to expert Phillip Lopate, one of the key concepts in creative nonfiction is the “double-perspective.” This is how personal essays and memoirs allow a writer to show not only their perspective when an event happened but their wiser retrospective understanding of that event. To practice creative nonfiction, try identifying an event that you’ve come to understand differently over time and write about that shift in your mindset.

Four Additional Forms of Creative Writing

While fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and playwriting/screenwriting are the most common genres included in academic creative writing programs, many other forms of writing fall into that category. Four examples are stand-up comedy, speech-writing, songwriting, and journaling.

Of course, any form of creative writing can include jokes, comedic scenes, or can have a comedic structure in the classical sense (Aristotle defined comedy as a story in which a ridiculous character starts low and ends high, in a happy ending). However, a stand-up comedy set is its own beast. 

Stand-up comedy sets are inarguably a form of creative writing. A comedian’s primary objectives are to express the comedian’s unique perspective and create an emotional response in the audience. Like drama, comedy combines both writing and performance. Like poetry, stand-up sets are very tightly written, with the mindset that every word matters.

Most stand-up sets are written as narrative nonfiction, and many contain elements of social commentary. Two of the most impactful comedy sets in the last decade, for example, were Hannah Gadsby’s Peabody and Grammy Award-winning show Nanette , which addressed the prejudice she’d experienced as a lesbian, and the album Tig Notaro Live , a Grammy-nominated comedy album about Notaro’s cancer diagnosis that topped the Billboard charts.

While stand-up sets typically describe things that happened to the comedian, they are not limited to truthfulness like other nonfiction. It is not considered unethical to exaggerate, fictionalize, or even fabricate events described in a stand-up set, as long as it improves the jokes.

As in Gadsby and Notaro’s sets, sometimes the best comedy has an edge and addresses very serious subjects. If you want to try writing comedy, a good exercise is to identify an extremely negative experience in your life and look for a comedic perspective on it. 

For more help on writing comedy, we can recommend six great comedy writing books .

Stand-up comedy and dramatic monologs are essentially speeches, and it is only fair to characterize other forms of speech-writing as creative writing. Of course, some speeches are improvised. Many, however, are the result of creative writing, revision, and memorization. 

Speeches falling under the rubric of creative writing could include anything from the president’s congressional State of the Union address to the best man speech at your friend’s wedding. In either case, the writer of the speech typically aims to express a unique perspective and generate a particular emotional response in the listener (persuading them to trust the president or to believe that the bride and groom are soulmates, for example).

Most speeches have a higher expectation of truthfulness than comedy sets and certainly more than dramatic monologs. However, they also integrate elements of poetry and fiction, such as the use of themes and motifs. 

Many people learn how to write speeches by participating in high school or college-level speech and debate or joining groups like Toastmasters. You could also find opportunities to practice by volunteering in the context of activism or community education. You might also be interested in these essays about creative writing .

The overlap between theater and opera makes it evident that writing music with lyrics should be included in the umbrella category of creative writing. However, any argument that creative writing shouldn’t include song lyrics was demolished in 2016, when Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. 

The overlap between lyrics and poetry is obvious. Both are short, efficient forms, which are always focused on the rhythm of language and often on rhyme. However, it is also common for lyrics to tell a fictional story, such as in Dylan’s song “Tangled Up in Blue,” or even nonfictional stories, as in his song “Hurricane,” about boxer Rubin Carter being framed for murder. Song lyrics may also include jokes. Like drama, lyrics are usually consumed by observing performers, rather than by reading.

Notwithstanding these overlaps, what sets lyrics apart from other creative writing categories (other than opera or musicals) is that lyrics are set to music. This requires a high level of skill in handling rhythm because not only must the internal rhythm of the lyrics work (as in a poem), they must resonate well with the music supporting them. If you don’t have a band, look for a karaoke version of a song you know and love to practice writing song lyrics. Then write your own new lyrics for it. 

Journal writing is a little harder to fit in the creative writing category, as we’ve defined it. Although it is the ultimate form of self-expression, journals are typically not meant to be read by others. But, of course, if you become famous enough, your diary might one day become of interest to the public and publishable (such as Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl ).

Freewriting about your own life and experience is a valuable training technique for creative writers. The popular book and methodology The Artist’s Way , by Julia Cameron, advises hand-writing three pages every day, regardless of the content, in order to increase and enhance the creative drive for all artists, not just writers. As Virginia Woolf put it, “The habit of writing for my eye is good practice. It loosens the ligaments.” 

However, a personal diary describing your secrets and feelings about your life is only one way to use a journal. Some people use journaling to brainstorm and pre-write in preparation for writing fiction or other forms. You can even take diary entries and revise them into m a memoir or poetry. 

There is enormous overlap between the different types of creative writing, and practicing any of them will improve your writing skills, so there’s no reason to silo yourself. For example, poets can deepen their sense of meter by writing lyrics, journaling fans can write personal essays to share their insights with readers, and fiction writers can improve their dialogue by experimenting with writing drama. So stop pigeonholing yourself as a creative writer, and you may find your creativity far exceeds your expectations.

Bryan Collins is the owner of Become a Writer Today. He's an author from Ireland who helps writers build authority and earn a living from their creative work. He's also a former Forbes columnist and his work has appeared in publications like Lifehacker and Fast Company.

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Primary Creative Writing

Primary creative english writing class.

In our most popular and highly-effective Primary Creative Writing Classes, we employ a dual-pronged approach of skills-based and thematic-based lessons as we prepare children for the Composition Writing component in Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE).

Creative Writing Skills & New Vocabulary

Students are taught how to apply a consistent set of Creative Writing skills in their compositions. New vocabulary is introduced through different story topics each week.

Small Class Size Of 6-8 Students

Honing their writing skills in a small, conducive class size of 6-8 students will give students the space to fully develop their craft. Teachers are also able to give individual students close attention and guidance in their writing.

Students Progress

Students will be faced with more writing challenges as they progress to the next school level. They will thus be exposed to, and learn more complex skills like “foreshadowing” and “building suspense”.

As students progress up each level, we prepare them by introducing more skills progressively.

Composition Writing

Students complete a full composition in class every 1-2 weeks. Each student will receive detailed, written feedback at the end of each lesson. Our lessons are structured according to skills-based, guided writing, and independent writing classes.

Guided Writing Lessons

Together with our teachers, students will explore a comprehensive list of topics and themes found commonly in MOE School, Prelim, and PSLE are covered. They will also be exposed to model essays with captivating plots, whilst learning to apply them with relevant vocabulary across various topics.

Students are taught systematically how to craft a well-developed story.

• Explore a comprehensive list of topics and themes
• Exposure to model essays with captivating plots
• Learn relevant vocabulary across various topics
• Reinforcement of WE skills and plot elements throughout term
• Vocabulary exercises assigned after each guided practice to encourage retention
• Common MOE School, Prelim and PSLE topics covered

Independent Writing Lessons

Students will put what they have learnt to the test. They will come up with plot ideas for each topic independently with minimum help from their teachers or materials.

• Students to attempt to use 1, 2, or 3 pictures as a focal point in the story
• Students will have the chance to apply skills and vocabulary learnt independently to their writing.
• Parents are encouraged to bring school practices for teachers to evaluate their learning progress
• Mock Assessments are conducted for P1-P4 students in Term 2; P5 & P6 students in Term 2 and 3

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At Write Edge, teachers spend a substantial amount of time to teach the children a set of Creative Writing Skills (such as Show-Not-Tell, 5 Senses, Speech + Speech tag + Action Tag, Varied Sentence Structures, Ways to say “Said”, Personification etc.) These skills are reinforced weekly to ensure that they are familiar with how to use and apply them in their work.

Through the teachers’ close guidance and clear, instructional materials, we help our students apply these skills to their writing weekly.

Students will write a composition every week and we cover as many themes/topics/story ideas as we can throughout the year. For more complex topics like ‘dilemma’ or ‘loyalty’, the compositions will be completed across two weeks. As the students progress up each level from Primary 1 to 6, more advanced skills, phrases and themes will be introduced to them.

We strictly run small classes of 6-8 students and this promotes higher interaction between the teachers and the students. Not many centres offer such a low student-teacher ratio.

Our small classes of 6-8 allow our teachers to give every individual close attention and guidance.

This is particularly helpful and important for writing classes. Teachers are able to do detailed marking and give meticulous feedback on your child’s progress.

Our learning materials are also specially curated by our curriculum specialists and senior teachers. They are improved frequently to ensure clarity and effectiveness.

We are also up to date with the latest MOE syllabus.

Our teachers are trained, dedicated and passionate! We do our best to ensure that every child learns at Write Edge regardless of ability.

Yes. Your child may attend a trial class before deciding if our programme is suitable for him/her.

Yes. All students are required to do a draft 2 of every composition written in class. Draft 2 is the corrected copy of their draft 1. This helps them to learn from their mistakes, revise their story plot, impressive phrases, sentence structures and other skills taught in class.

If the student is unable to finish what was tasked for that day, they will have paragraphs to complete at home. Over time, as they familiarise themselves with the skills, phrases and the writing duration, they should be able to finish what is tasked for the lesson.

As we run a small class of 6-8 students, the teacher is typically able to give enough attention to all students, including the students who might not be able to catch up as quickly as the rest.

Attending a creative writing class should help to improve your child’s overall English Language competency. Through the writing process, they are able to put practice their usage of grammar, spelling, punctuation and vocabulary.

Over time, as the students practise what is taught in class and learn to apply them in school, they should be able to see an improvement in their composition grades.

However, there are some instances where we recommend students to attend a regular English class instead of a Creative Writing class.

We strongly encourage that students attend all four terms as we teach different creative writing skills and cover different topics every term. Attending the classes for the whole year will provide the students with a well-rounded experience at Write Edge.

Progress differs from child to child. Some students see good improvement within 3 to 6 months of attending Write Edge, while others take longer. For children who have a weaker foundation in their sentence structures, grammar, spelling, punctuations, teachers will spend more time building their foundation before focusing on other more complex aspects of writing.

Ultimately, beyond attaining stellar grades, we believe that providing the platform for students to write, practise, make mistakes and revise their drafts weekly will benefit them in the long run. The important language and writing skills acquired will prepare them for their examinations and beyond.

– Lessons are conducted as usual during the MOE school holidays (March, June and September). Our term ends in November ie: no classes during December holiday.

– With the exception of Chinese New Year, New Year and Christmas, lessons will be conducted as usual for any other Public Holiday that falls on a Saturday or Sunday,

– Classes will not be scheduled on gazetted Public Holidays that falls on weekdays and fees will be prorated accordingly.

Replacement lessons are scheduled within the week at a maximum of twice a term and is subjected to availability.

Worksheets will be given if there are no suitable timings for replacement.

Strictly no prorate, credit or refund for lesson missed.

Most Primary 1s are suitable for Write Edge’s creative writing programme. Students are exposed to a wide range of interesting story plots, good language and writing skills.

As young writers, a lot of guidance is given throughout the lesson. It is common for some P1s to struggle with spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence construction and coming up with logical plot ideas. With practice and guidance from our teachers in a small class, they should see gradual improvement in these areas.

However, there are instances where we recommend students to attend a regular English class before joining our creative writing class.

We will suggest for the student to try for about a term so we can more accurately assess if he/she is suitable for the class.

Have other questions in mind?

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The battle for AI vibes —

“the king is dead”—claude 3 surpasses gpt-4 on chatbot arena for the first time, anthropic's claude 3 is first to unseat gpt-4 for #1 since launch of chatbot arena in may '23..

Benj Edwards - Mar 27, 2024 4:32 pm UTC

On Tuesday, Anthropic's Claude 3 Opus large language model (LLM) surpassed OpenAI's GPT-4 (which powers ChatGPT) for the first time on Chatbot Arena , a popular crowdsourced leaderboard used by AI researchers to gauge the relative capabilities of AI language models. "The king is dead," tweeted software developer Nick Dobos in a post comparing GPT-4 Turbo and Claude 3 Opus that has been making the rounds on social media. "RIP GPT-4."

Further Reading

Since GPT-4 was included in Chatbot Arena around May 10, 2023 (the leaderboard launched May 3 of that year), variations of GPT-4 have consistently been on the top of the chart until now, so its defeat in the Arena is a notable moment in the relatively short history of AI language models. One of Anthropic's smaller models, Haiku, has also been turning heads with its performance on the leaderboard.

"For the first time, the best available models—Opus for advanced tasks, Haiku for cost and efficiency—are from a vendor that isn't OpenAI," independent AI researcher Simon Willison told Ars Technica. "That's reassuring—we all benefit from a diversity of top vendors in this space. But GPT-4 is over a year old at this point, and it took that year for anyone else to catch up."

Chatbot Arena is run by Large Model Systems Organization (LMSYS ORG), a research organization dedicated to open models that operates as a collaboration between students and faculty at University of California, Berkeley, UC San Diego, and Carnegie Mellon University.

We profiled how the site works in December, but in brief, Chatbot Arena presents a user visiting the website with a chat input box and two windows showing output from two unlabeled LLMs. The user's task it to rate which output is better based on any criteria the user deems most fit. Through thousands of these subjective comparisons, Chatbot Arena calculates the "best" models in aggregate and populates the leaderboard, updating it over time.

Chatbot Arena is important to researchers because they often find frustration in trying to measure the performance of AI chatbots, whose wildly varying outputs are difficult to quantify. In fact, we wrote about how notoriously difficult it is to objectively benchmark LLMs in our news piece about the launch of Claude 3. For that story,  Willison emphasized the important role of "vibes," or subjective feelings, in determining the quality of a LLM. "Yet another case of 'vibes' as a key concept in modern AI," he said.

The "vibes" sentiment is common in the AI space, where numerical benchmarks that measure knowledge or test-taking ability are frequently cherry-picked by vendors to make their results look more favorable. "Just had a long coding session with Claude 3 opus and man does it absolutely crush gpt-4. I don’t think standard benchmarks do this model justice," tweeted AI software developer Anton Bacaj on March 19.

Claude's rise may give OpenAI pause, but as Willison mentioned, the GPT-4 family itself (although updated several times) is over a year old. Currently, the Arena lists four different versions of GPT-4, which represent incremental updates of the LLM that get frozen in time because each has a unique output style, and some developers using them with OpenAI's API need consistency so their apps built on top of GPT-4's outputs don't break.

These include GPT-4-0314 (the "original" version of GPT-4 from March 2023 ), GPT-4-0613 (a snapshot of GPT-4 from June 13, 2023, with "improved function calling support," according to OpenAI), GPT-4-1106-preview (the launch version of GPT-4 Turbo from November 2023), and GPT-4-0125-preview (the latest GPT-4 Turbo model, intended to reduce cases of "laziness" from January 2024).

Still, even with four GPT-4 models on the leaderboard, Anthropic's Claude 3 models have been creeping up the charts consistently since their release earlier this month. Claude 3's success among AI assistant users already has some LLM users replacing ChatGPT in their daily workflow, potentially eating away at ChatGPT's market share. On X, software developer Pietro Schirano wrote , "Honestly, the wildest thing about this whole Claude 3 > GPT-4 is how easy it is to just... switch??"

Google's similarly capable Gemini Advanced has been gaining traction as well in the AI assistant space. That may put OpenAI on guard for now, but in the long run, the company is prepping new models. It is expected to release a major new successor to GPT-4 Turbo (whether named GPT-4.5 or GPT-5) sometime this year, possibly in the summer. It's clear that the LLM space will be full of competition for the time being, which may make for more interesting shakeups on the Chatbot Arena leaderboard in the months and years to come.

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