teen writers

Writing Prompts for June 2017

Writing Prompts for June 2017

I hope you had a creative May and made progress toward your writing goals. I feel like I spent most of May driving back and forth to the hospital/rehab facility where my mom is recovering from a fractured pelvis. Even though it’s not a long drive, and she’s usually in good spirits and making good progress with her physiotherapy, I’m still exhausted when I get home. It’s just hard, as you know, to see someone you love struggling, sometimes in pain, and wanting to have them back home where they belong. Creativity is elusive at the best of times, but right now impossible. I’ve managed a couple of short, freelance projects, and I’m grateful for those because they’ve kept me writing.

Keeping on the creative track is hard, but I’ve found great satisfaction in doing one simple thing every day. I’m taking a book that I love and am writing out—yes, pen on paper—a small section of it every day. I was inspired to do this by Jennifer Manuel and her blog, How to Write Your Best Story Ever with One Epic Exercise. My copying helps me see how one writer uses words well. It’s like a mini writing workshop every day. It’s also calming, and I need that now, as “stress” is my middle name right now as we get my mom’s apartment ready for her return (including filling her many garden containers with flowers and tomato plants and lettuce plants, etc.—sooooo not my thing) and likely installing a stair lift so she can get up and down stairs to her apartment without stressing herself. Life is not dull.

I hope you enjoy June’s writing prompts and have a writerly month ahead.

1.  Use one, some, or all of the words in one of these groups to inspire a story or poem.

  • Pen, hope, clear, yesterday, erase, blue
  • Goblet, table, feast, music, undercurrent, red
  • Calendar, busy, time, renew, carry, up, yellow

2.   Here are some opening sentences from which you might invent a story or two.

  • Let the boy speak.
  • Wish you were here.
  • Haven’t you won that solitaire game yet?
  • Was this how freedom felt?
  • Helen looked up to face the crowded room.
  • I’d read stories about people who’d run for their lives, but nothing had prepared me for this.
  • Henry flicked the switch. Nothing. Again. Nothing.
  • I had never been so tired.
  • I don’t do edges well.
  • Helen tried to not think about her wedding

3.  Here are some titles that might make you think of a story or poem: This Is My Life, The Abandoned, The Beauty in Everything, The Lake, A Simple Life, The Castle on the Cliff, The Magic Forest, Dragons and Me, Dancing in the Street, Going Viral, Henry’s Letter, Runaway

4.  Try these dialogue excerpts and write a scene or two.

  • That was a pretty mean thing to say.
  • It was true. And she had to hear it.
  • She hates you now.
  • I know, but that’s better than losing her.

 

  • You were gone a long time.
  • Too bad it was wasted.
  • He wouldn’t listen?
  • No.

 

  • I saw Henry steal the–.
  • Quiet!
  • But—
  • Everyone knows.

 

  • What’s that?
  • A letter.
  • Who from?
  • My grandmother.
  • But ….
  • I know. She died three years ago.

 

Writing Prompts for March, 2017

Okay, so I had this month’s writing prompts drafted early in my journal, and then whoosh, completely missed my March 1 deadline for my blog. And whoosh went the next few days. If March continues like this, it will be April before I know it. That’s fine with me, actually. Bring on Spring!

If sometimes you have trouble getting started on your stories, check out this great post by Jill Williamson, 10 Types of Prewriting, for great tips that go beyond brainstorming and freewriting. If you know you need to learn more about your character before you start some serious writing, use the character sketch template here to add more details to your character’s life story. Writing Prompts for March 2017

Here are your writing prompts for March.

Use one, some, or all of the words in each group to create a story or poem:

  • Bright, cloud, cold, bird song, waste, blue
  • White, stifling, breath, under, trapped, scream
  • Fog, echo, shadow, lurk, strain, peer, black
  • Flame, heat, roar, fear, run, red, alarm

See if any of these opening sentences spark a story:

  • It’s too dark. I can’t see.
  • In the distance, the castle’s tall towers loomed black against the bright blue sky.
  • Vultures.
  • It seemed like we’d been climbing for ages.
  • The warm sunshine was welcome after the long night in the cave.
  • The alarm rang for the third time.
  • We were supposed to be the first living beings who had ever been here.
  • What was it about him that frightened me? I hadn’t even shaken his hand yet.
  • I hadn’t reckoned on him being a liar, too.
  • Henry came back.
  • I was afraid, and I didn’t like it.

Can you think of a story or poem to go with one of these titles?

Last Victory, Ember, Shroud Dancing, Port of Call, Getting Lost, The Climb, Murder at the Zoo, Marathon, First Stop Mars, Second Sight, Unglued, Free Ride, Yellow Tulips, Ice Storm.

Here are some snippets of dialogue. Can you write a scene around one of them?

  • Stay of out there!
  • But I just saw Henry go in.
  • He shouldn’t be in there either!

 

  • I wish you’d stop bugging me.
  • But this is important.
  • You’ve said that before.
  • But this time, your life is in danger.

 

  • It’s been a long time.
  • Not long enough.

 

  • Why is Henry so angry?
  • Helen left him.
  • He can’t be surprised.
  • No, just angry, and that’s worse.

 

  • Can you keep a secret?
  • Well ….
  • That’s what I thought.

Hope you have a writerly month! If you’re getting stuck on you book project and need some help, please check out my coaching services here.

Stop Summer Slide Here

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If you’re a bored teen or pre-teen or the parent of one, here are some ideas for getting creative and having fun this summer.

a) The writing prompts on this website here and here give you plenty of ideas for stories, movie scripts, play scripts, comic books, you name it, (and there are more suggestions in the links tab.) You can also find story planners and a fun idea generator here. 

b) Visit a bookstore or the library with a friend and take a bag or envelope with some small pieces of blank paper inside. When you arrive, divide the papers between the two of you, and walk through the library/store with a pen, and write down a random book title on each piece of paper. When you’re done,  put them back in the envelope. Then each of you draws out one piece of paper and that’s the title for your story, or maybe it’s something one of the characters says. Since you know you could pick one of the titles you put in, make sure you choose titles that have story potential.

c) Check out the amazing drawings created by Chris Van Allsburg for The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge the photos and see what stories your imagination can create.

d) Write a story with a friend. This is great fun for a rainy day or a long car ride. Choose an opening line from one of the prompts on this website and then write a story with each of you writing one sentence and then passing the story to the other person for the next sentence. See how far you can go. Be as silly as you like. If you each decide that you have great ideas for finishing the story on your own, go ahead and write two stories. It will be fun to see how each of your stories turns out.

e) Write a story or fairy tale for a child that you know–little brother or sister, cousin, the child you babysit. Make the child the hero of your story. Here’s a link to some great ideas for folded paper books that are kid-sized: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Booklet-from-Paper You can also use these little books to collect and illustrate quotes from your favourite writers or famous people who inspire you.

f) Do some coloring–and find a story. Download the free coloring pages available on this website or check out some of the free coloring page sites that you can find on Google. Here are a couple that have some interesting pages for downloading. Some of them depict moments in stories. Maybe after coloring a page or two, you can come up with your own story to match the picture. http://www.kids-n-fun.com/coloringpages/tag/teens-difficult-coloring-pages or http://www.supercoloring.com/. The latter site also has tutorials that teach you how to draw your own images for coloring.

g) Draw a detailed map of a village, kingdom, haunted house, planet, island–whatever your imagination suggests. What adventures will your characters have here? Do the place names you chose suggest a fantasy, a mystery, an adventure? Try putting characters from your favourite books in this setting and see what happens.

h) Every watch a movie or read a book and hate the ending? Write a new one or write a sequel if you think there are more stories to tell about these characters.

i) Read, read, read. One of the best ways to fill the writer’s creative well is to escape into the worlds of other authors. Try reading something you don’t normally read. Chose a mystery instead of a fantasy, or an adventure instead of a love story.

j) Of course, if you want some other inspiration, drop by here to check out some books that might help you fill your creative well, too. Yes, these are books that I wrote. 🙂

Hope you have a wonderful and creative summer!

 

 

 

Writing Prompts March 2016

March came in like a lion here with high winds and snow. Today, we have blue skies and sunshine. Yup, it’s March in Ontario alright. Aside from surviving the crazy weather, I’ve been the unwelcome host of a nasty cold (snorfle, sniff, moan) since Sunday, and finally crawled out of my pity party today to realize that I hadn’t written my March writing prompts. You will find them below.

Online course planning with sticky notes
Online course planning with sticky notes

Since I wrote last, I have been busy working on creating an online fiction writing course for teen writers with help from Joseph Michael and D’vorah Lansky. It’s a painstaking process and I don’t imagine anything will see the light of day until May, but it’s been exciting to brainstorm topics and ideas in the planning stages. I’m a big fan of sticky notes for this part of the process, as you can see. Soon, I will be getting down to organizing all this pink chaos into units and lessons. After that comes the creation of the actual audio-visual components–a scary prospect, I can assure you. Like most people, I’m not in my happy place in front of a microphone. But, I also enjoy a challenge, so … 🙂

Here are your writing prompts. I hope you have a creative March ahead!

Use one, some, or all of the words in these groups to create a story or poem:

  • flower, song, frame, balloon, calm, purple
  • chair, shadow, dial, repair, candle, cup, yellow
  • path, marking, window, sky, light, white

See if you can imagine a story or poem with one of these titles: Thursday’s Child, A Small Hero, Shadow Land, The Blue Empire, Target Gold, Last Gasp, Dragon Rites, Clock Tower, Midnight Moon, The Wanderer, Broken Promise

Try one of these opening lines for your story or novel:

  • One of these days, I’m going to say no.
  • I agreed that Henry was a puzzle, but I was the only one who thought a couple of pieces were missing.
  • It’s bad enough when your ex-boyfriend calls you, but when the call is from his mother, it’s time for action!
  • I knew that sound. Dragons.
  • I thought space was supposed to be silent.
  • We didn’t know it would be our last sunset at the lake.
  • Tires screeched. I turned and ran down the alley.
  • He lit a cigarette and watched Henry close the door.

See if you can imagine a scene from one of these groups of dialogue lines:

Are you sure we’re going the right way?
These are the directions Henry gave me.
Was that before or after you had the fight?

Do you think Mrs. Wilson knows?
Knows what?
That Helen cheated.
We’ll find out soon.

I saw Henry this morning.
But, I thought he said he was leaving last night.
That’s what he wanted us to think.

Why do we have to meet on the bridge?
What’s the matter? Scared?
I’ve got every reason to be.

 

 

 

 

 

Publication for Young Writers

51fSKVUK2lL._SX385_BO1,204,203,200_Here’s a list of new locations where young writers can be published. I’ll be adding these to the Where to Get Published tab, too.

10 Publication Opportunities for Young Writers:  Writers like Françoise Sagan, Sonya Hartnett and S.E. Hinton demonstrate that youth doesn’t have to be a barrier to literary success. Here is a list of 10 magazines, journals and websites that are committed to publishing young writers and that champion the work of those just starting out.   http://www.aerogrammestudio.com/2015/03/26/publication-opportunities-for-young-writers/

Canvas Teen Literary Journal is published quarterly in print, ebook, web, video, and audio formats. http://canvasliteraryjournal.com/submit/

New Pages Young Authors Guide: Where young writers can find print and online literary magazines to read, places to publish their own works, and legitimate contests. Some publish only young writers, some publish all ages for young readers. For specific submission guidelines, visit the publication’s website. This is an ad-free page; publications and contests listed here have not paid to be included. This page is maintained by Editor Denise Hill, a teacher who loves to encourage young writers.   http://www.newpages.com/writers-resources/young-authors-guide

YARN (Young Adult Review Network):  YARN is an award-winning literary journal that publishes outstanding original short fiction, poetry, and essays for Young Adult readers, written by the writers you know and love, as well as fresh new voices…including teens. http://yareview.net/how-to-submit/

The Telling Room is a nonprofit writing center in Portland, Maine, dedicated to the idea that children and young adults are natural storytellers. Focused on young writers ages 6 to 18, we seek to build confidence, strengthen literacy skills, and provide real audiences for our students. We believe that the power of creative expression can change our communities and prepare our youth for future success. Places to Publish:  http://www.tellingroom.org/get-published/places-publish

December 2015 Writing Prompts, New Book, Goodreads Giveaway

I hope that those of you who celebrated Thanksgiving last week had a wonderful time with family and friends and are enjoying your leftovers. If you were part of NaNoWriMo, I hope that you made your word count goals, and if not, made progress on your project that will carry on to completion soon.

My NaNo plans were prompted by a workshop that I was to be running at the local library. Sadly, participation was too low and the workshop was cancelled. Since my motivation for NaNo (wrapped entirely around working with and encouraging a group of young writers for a month) fell through, and so did my “novel.” Instead, I finished the project closest to my heart, A Journal for Teen Writers.

51fSKVUK2lL._SX385_BO1,204,203,200_The journal is filled with blank writing pages, encouraging quotes from writers, brainstorming pages, coloring and doodling pages, and 50 new writing prompts. I’m very happy with it, and especially happy that it’s been #1 in it’s category of new releases for the past week at Amazon.com. It might have been there longer, but the first day I looked at it was last Tuesday. Take a peek here. My next challenge is creating journals for genre writers. I’ve started working on one for mystery writers, but until a freelance contract and my teaching semester are done, that one is going to be on hold until the new year.

My anthology of short stories for boys, written with my co-author Jean Mills, is part of a Goodreads giveaway until December 8th. Drop by Goodreads to enter to win an autographed copy.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Dude! by Heather Wright

Hope you have a wonderful month ahead. If you have time among the holiday prep to do any writing, I hope these writing prompts give you the inspiration you need.

Use one, some, or all of these words in a story or poem:

  • music, jar, creature, forest, wise, fear
  • jump, stress, sunshine, shadow, left, wind
  • sun, photograph, last, shine, memory, river
  • rhythm, race, share, joy, defeat, call

Here are some opening sentences for you to try:

  • Stop! I can’t keep up.
  • Today Carol’s hair was blue.
  • I’d only been here ten minutes, and already I wanted to leave.
  • When I asked Henry what was new, I inwardly prayed for some positive news.
  • Where did that map come from?
  • I fell through a wall that wasn’t there.
  • I’m an astronomer. I know the skies and night–but not tonight.
  • It’s 7:15 and Henry is never late.

See if one of these titles inspires a story:
The Winder, King’s Ransom, The Fan, Bookworm, Mountain Mystic, The Club, The Story of Two Dreams, When One Door Closes, The Cats and I, Race, Tornado

See what scenes you can create from these lines of dialogue:

I’m so proud.
Of what?
Resisting the urge to scream at you right now.

Whose dog is that?
What dog?
That one.
Oh.

You don’t believe in dragons, do you?
No. Why?
I think I’ve found a way to change your mind.

Have you seen Helen’s new boyfriend?
No.
Well, neither has anyone else.

June 2013 Writing Prompts

Peonies - My favourite June flower
Peonies – My favourite June flower

I can’t believe it’s June already. We had every kind of weather in May from snow to a heat wave with thunderstorms, high winds and hail in between. I’m hoping that June calms down a little–and not just here, but for those other parts of North America that have already had enough destructive weather to last a lifetime.Here are the writing prompts for June. If you don’t find any of these inspiring, you can find lots to write about at the Writing Prompts tab above, too. Hope you have a creative month!

1. Use one, some, or all of these words in a story or poem.

a) music, heart, fear, jacket, flower, door

b) basket, park, jewel, mirror, thunder, hope

2. Here are some opening lines for your story.

a) Jenny smelled like cookies.

b) It was only 8:30, and already I knew I should have stayed in bed.

c) Red cars are best.

d) The wind moaned in the chimney.

e) Flat tires aren’t funny.

3. Some things I think of when I think of June. Maybe they’ll inspire a story or poem.

weddings, the longest day, summer solstice, “June is busting out all over,” June bride, D-Day, Juno, school’s out, June bug, report cards, graduation, Father’s Day, midsummer, taking off the first hay, fresh mown grass, bird song, gardens, planting, change.

4. Here are some lines of dialogue that you can use to create a story.

a) I’ve had enough

Enough what?

Enough you.

b) I’ve stepped in something

You’re right. Now, keep moving.

What is it?

You don’t want to know.

c) There’s a light flashing.

Don’t worry. It’s only a problem if it’s red.

It’s red.

5. The year is nearly half over. Where are you with the resolutions you made in January? Is it time to make some new ones? Are you making progress? Are New Year’s resolutions just dumb anyways?

Hope you have fun with these prompts and find some joywriting time for yourself in the next 30 days!

 

Classroom Visit and NaNo Thoughts

I had a great morning yesterday, visiting a class of Writer’s Craft students at a local high school. I talked with them for an hour about publishing: different ways to get your work published, some warnings, some resources and some facts about the money side of the business. The time flew and the class was attentive and asked good questions. I hadn’t visited the school before, but I was made very welcome. I was a bit early and while I waited for the teacher to meet me, without exception every teacher that passed me smiled and said good morning. That doesn’t happen everywhere.

In the conanowrimo_participant_06_100x100urse of talking about writing resources with the teacher after the class, I mentioned National Novel Writing Month. She teaches a course in the first semester that would overlap NaNoWriMo’s dates, and I thought it might be fun for her students to explore.  NaNoWriMo has a fantastic program for young writers with lots of excellent resources for the writers and for teachers who might want to get their classes involved.

So this got me to thinking about this coming November. Will I join NaNo and try to write a novel in 30 days? The first time I attempted NaNo, I stopped around 20,000 words. I was happily writing a suspense/romance and enjoying just letting the story go where it may, when I realized that if I could write 20,000+ words in a couple of weeks, why wasn’t I writing the book I had wanted to write for several years? Duh. So, I stopped the novel and finished Writing Fiction: A Hands-On Guide for Teens, instead. My 13-year-old son finished his NaNo novel with 50,000+ words and a lot of pride. The second time, just as we started NaNo, my much-loved mother-in-law began a swift and deadly decline due to pancreatic cancer.

There’s a unique quality about NaNo that seems to crack through something in me that just gets words on the page. Maybe it’s because the objective is so absurd that the writing can’t be overthought or second-guessed, and I don’t put up my usual procrastination roadblocks because I need to post a number every night.  Yup. Seeing that graph head upwards really motivates me.

Have you tried NaNoWriMo? What do you think about the experience? Are you thinking of signing up this year? If you’re a teacher, have you ever used the resources or used NaNoWriMo with your class?

Friday Writing Wrap-Up

This week began with the Victoria Day holiday, and I discovered that I should never go away without my NEO. My son needed my laptop for exam prep, and the work I wanted to do just wasn’t going to get done without a keyboard. The solution? A couple of early mornings for me when I could have the laptop to myself. Of course that meant that all I could do for the rest of the weekend was read and relax. Somehow I managed to cope. 🙂

This week has been all about editing. I’m converting a middle readers novel from third person to first person POV. I did a quick run through first, just changing the he’s to I’s, etc. Yesterday I began a much slower edit where I get to have fun getting into the head and voice of my character. There’s a section that needs a total rewrite near the end, but I’ll worry about that when I get there. I’m really enjoying this process right now, which is also telling me that I made the right decision to make the change.

Have you ever changed the POV of your novel or story? Why did you decide to make the change? What did the change add to your story?

Where I was on the weekend.
Where I was on the weekend.

Next week I have a school visit to talk to a writer’s craft class about publishing. I’m looking forward to meeting the students and their teacher, and have already started gathering all the material I want to take with me. I’m sure that the hour that I have with them will just fly by.

Writing Links for Writers and Teachers

Work-in-ProgressThought I’d share a few blogs and resources that I’ve found useful this week.

A great blog from Janice Hardy showing writers how to set tone and mood in their scenes. The examples are excellent and capture a lot of writer flaws that are easy to see in your own writing–mine included. Sigh. http://blog.janicehardy.com/2013/04/how-to-set-tone-and-mood-in-your-scenes.html?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+janicehardy/PUtE+(The+Other+Side+of+the+Story)

An interesting blog on why the word “suddenly” should be deleted in your writing. The comments add some other words that can be deleted, too. http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/2013/04/most-common-mistakes-series-why.html?utm_source=feedly

Skype in the classroom offers ways to connect with teachers and specialists who are willing to connect to you and your students through Skype. https://education.skype.com/

Have a great Wednesday!

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