Category: Writing Prompts

creative fright-it!

29/10/2020

Boo!
Each year for Halloween, our studio becomes Creative Fright-it! as we work on spooky prompts. This year we worked on two-sentence horror stories; a deceptively simple structure that challenges you to set up seemingly-normal scenarios then twist your reader’s expectation with a spooky second sentence.
Our young authors were frightfully good at choosing their words to conjure up eerie atmospheres and chilling conclusions. Here are some of the highlights from this year!

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“What did you do on the holidays?” 5 creative writing examples by young writers!

8/10/2020

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Last week we shared five prompts from our Workshop Leaders to get kids thinking creatively about a classic teacher’s question. Here are some of the responses from our workshops, which you can use as examples to help some young writers you know! We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Describing a Memory
by Zhilong

As I opened the door of our new house, I was engulfed with a new smell. My first idea was to go and explore this new house. I ran down the corridors and went to the alfresco and opened the door of the glass dome pool. I felt the sun on my hot skin as if I was being cooked like bacon in a big burger. Then suddenly without knowing, as if my body had its own brain, I jumped in the pool, the water splashing, the cold feeling of the water cooling me down as I came above the surface. I breathed the fresh air of relief, then sat in one of the sun chairs and dried off.

One-Upping!
by Karen

“Students, now we are going to tell your classmates about your holidays!” Miss Henry said with joy.
“Ooo! Ooo!” Jack called out, “Can I share first?”
“Yes Jack, you may. But next time please don’t call out,” Miss Henry answered.
“Oh sorry, yes I won’t next time,” Jack said.
“You may start now, Jack,” Miss Henry announced.
“Ok so first, I went to the park and with my friends made a human pyramid.”
“Well I made a human pyramid too,” another student called out, “but with 10 people!”
“Well I did that and I touched a bird.”
“I did that too, but even better. I ate lunch up there!”
“Wowwwwwwwww!” the class said in shock with their mouths wide open.
“Don’t wow at that, wow at this. I was so high I touched a plane!”
“Wowwww, that’s amazing!” the class said.
“Well, I was doing backflips and tricks at the very top.”
“Oh wow, that’s amazing, I did 100 backflips non-stop up there.”
“Guess what?”
“What?”
“I was cooking my dinner at the top.”
“Well, I didn’t know you could cook, you're only nine.”
“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me,” Jack said with a grin on his face.

Holiday on Mars
by Shriejan

Dear Mike,

Let me just say that your holiday was so cool especially since you live on Mars. I want to share what I did for my holiday, my favourite part was going to the park and playing soccer with my friends, or as you would say, "kick the ball". My team won 5-3 and I scored 3 goals, also known as 'kickthree'. I also played my favourite game, FIFA 20, which is BALL 20.
I loved my holidays and I did a lot of amazing stuff. I really hope that one day I can live on Mars with you, and we could do the amazing stuff together.
One more thing I did was play the game you sent me through space mail. Let me say that this was kinda like ‘Fortnite’. Anyway, the game was great and I didn’t even need to go through the instructions, maybe I can send you ‘Fortnite’ through space mail next time we chat?

From your friend,
Michael

Ordinary to Extraordinary
by Edilyn

I stared up into space while subconsciously fanning myself with a soft-cover copy of Harry Potter. I squeezed my eyes shut and imagined I was at school. The continual buzz of classmates’ chatter, the exhilaration when my friends chase me, the cool ice in my hand as I walk up to the playground from the school canteen.
I opened my eyes and found myself sitting in my bedroom, scorching from the heat. Groaning, I went to grab a fan from the storage room.
Suddenly I noticed a movement from outside. An orange hide brushed against the window. My feet took me to the window. A loud roar almost blew me backwards.
A gigantic lion stood in the middle of the street, roaring. I heard screams of people in their houses. My eyes gleamed with mischief as I ran outside.
Whoa, I thought. That lion was huge. I went inside and got a remote-control drone.
Buzz, it went, as I steered it outside. The lion saw the grey drone and swiped at it. I steered it right. Left. Skilfully steering it away from harm’s way, I sat in the shade of my porch. The lion evidently got annoyed.

What I Wish I Did in the Holidays
by Amelia

If I could have done anything on the short holidays it would definitely be to visit a sunny beach. Why? I want to because first, I haven’t visited a beach for ages. Second, I love playing in the water and building sandcastles. And third, simply to get out of my prison house.
The beach is one of my favourite places to visit. The friendly, but sometimes violent, waves are delightful and perfect to play with on beautiful days. They are soft and gentle, not hard and rocky. Even though the grains of soft sand are rocky and disgusting, it is gentle and doesn’t try to harm you. Also, it is the perfect material to make a sandcastle.
Therefore, the beach is certainly the place I would visit. And that is not a lie.

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“I’m Bored!”: Timeless Ideas for the School Holidays

19/9/2020

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It’s a particularly challenging year for finding entertaining things to do in Melbourne, but let’s be honest - the need for boredom busting in the school holidays is nothing new.
I remember driving my parents crazy with the sentence, “I’m bored” all the time! The things I found to do turned out to be things I still love: reading, writing, and creating. School holidays are an excellent time for pursuing activities you already enjoy, as well as giving new things a go.

If you’re seeking some inspiration these school holidays, here are a few ideas that never get old:

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Workshop Leader Feiya on Building Connections With Kids

12/9/2020

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Feiya is an award-winning writer and poet who we are lucky to have as a Workshop Leader!

We believe in building supportive relationships with the young writers in our workshops to give them space to feel safe expressing themselves--after all, creative writing workshops are all about learning to express ideas clearly and creatively!
We asked one of our Workshop Leaders, Feiya, about the connections she forms with the young writers in her workshops, and why they are so important in guiding kids along their writing journeys.

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How do you structure a story? Here's a hot tip!

27/8/2020

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Have you ever listened to a child tell you a story that contains a million amazing ideas, but they don't quite fit together? Maybe you know adults with the same problem!
If our ideas are hard to follow, our audience will find it hard to enjoy the story. This is why it's important to structure our writing.

A well structured story:

is easy to understand
flows smoothly from one section to the next
follows a clear narrative arc.

As young writers become more confident, they can play with story structure (for example, by starting at the end). This can be a lot of fun! But it's still important to make sure all of the story elements are there, so that readers are never scrambling to fill in too many blanks.
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How to help your child plan a well-structured story:
There are many ways you can do this, but here's one we use often!
Once they have their story idea, invite them to:

think of three everyday things their main character does (these will help to describe their 'normal life' in the beginning).
think of a strange or unusual event that affects the character (this is the where the action happens!).
Finally, think about how that event changes the main character's normal life, for better or worse!

You will start to see a clear plot developing as the answers to these questions are added.

Then there is just one thing left to do: start writing the story!

Ria (Grade 3) used this prompt to a plan a story about her dog, Rex. Have a listen to her explaining her plan:

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Ria used one of our story planning prompts to come up with a very cute story about her dog, Rex. She shared her idea with us in her last workshop over Zoom. Have a listen, do you think poor old Rex will manage to adapt to his everyday life changing?

A post shared by Creative Write-it (@creativewriteit) on Aug 19, 2020 at 7:31pm PDT

Ria turned her plan into a story by expanding her notes with details and descriptions. Read the finished story below!
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A Miscellany of Writ Bits & Bobs!

creative fright-it!

“What did you do on the holidays?” 5 creative writing examples by young writers!

Describing a Memory
by Zhilong

One-Upping!
by Karen

Holiday on Mars
by Shriejan

Ordinary to Extraordinary
by Edilyn

What I Wish I Did in the Holidays
by Amelia

“I’m Bored!”: Timeless Ideas for the School Holidays

Workshop Leader Feiya on Building Connections With Kids

How do you structure a story? Here's a hot tip!

Creative Write-it

Archives

Categories

A Miscellany of Writ Bits & Bobs!

creative fright-it!

“What did you do on the holidays?” 5 creative writing examples by young writers!

Describing a Memoryby Zhilong

One-Upping!by Karen

Holiday on Marsby Shriejan

Ordinary to Extraordinaryby Edilyn

What I Wish I Did in the Holidaysby Amelia

“I’m Bored!”: Timeless Ideas for the School Holidays

Workshop Leader Feiya on Building Connections With Kids

How do you structure a story? Here's a hot tip!

Creative Write-it

Archives

Categories

Describing a Memory
by Zhilong

One-Upping!
by Karen

Holiday on Mars
by Shriejan

Ordinary to Extraordinary
by Edilyn

What I Wish I Did in the Holidays
by Amelia