In the past, I have shared my experience and knowledge as a writer and teacher of Language Arts with middle and high school students. Many students are intimidated by writing because for some reason it makes them uncomfortable to break the rules, or they think they are not good at writing. Like anything, writing takes practice. Sports figures, musicians and artists did not become good at their craft overnight. They had to practice, practice, practice! Even those who are quite famous at what they do yearn to produce something better than what they have done in the past and continually learn. Writers must do the same.
When I am teaching students, I like them to write in a journal a few times every week. Journals provide a forum to write freely beyond any rules. This practice allows them to express their thoughts in their own words and become comfortable with the idea of writing. Academic writing is regimented and precise; there are rules that must be followed. Creative writing allows a writer to break the rules. Students are not hindered by all those pesky grammatical rules they are forced to apply in an essay or research paper.
The biggest complaint about writing in a journal from students is that they cannot think of anything to write about. Even adults who enjoy writing sometimes draw a blank when it comes to ideas. It is helpful to provide students with a variety of ideas to kickstart their creative juices. Give the student five ideas from the list below from which to choose. Any more than that at one time is overwhelming. The list below contains serious and silly ideas to help your budding writer get started when journaling.
The only rule that should be set is that the entry must be at least three paragraphs. Anything less than that is not sufficient to qualify as a decent effort. If a student is writing about something that interests them, they are more likely to write more.
- A cold winter’s night.
- A conversation with the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz.
- A stroll through the park.
- Describe an experience when you had to return an item to a store.
- Describe a sunset.
- Describe something you have done that you believe was the right thing to do.
- Describe the best day you ever had.
- Describe what you do to make yourself feel better when you feel sad or down.
- Describe your favorite room in your home.
- Describe your favorite toy or object when you were little.
- Describe your last vacation.
- Describe your lunch today.
- How do you deal with difficult people?
- How do you exercise?
- How would you communicate with a person who did not speak English?
- If I had a time machine…
- If I lived in Harry Potter’s World….
- If I took a potion that made me shrink…
- If I were a cloud…
- If I were invisible…
- If my pet could talk…
- I would kill for a …..
- If you could choose your own name or nickname, what would it be and why?
- If you could do whatever you wanted, what would you do?
- If you could fly, what would you do?
- If you could invent something, what would it be?
- If you lived in Venice, Italy what would your life be like?
- Inside the locked cabinet
- Life as an insect.
- Life as the last person on Earth.
- Life on Mars.
- School: Nuff Said.
- Something that has influenced your life.
- Something you are proud of.
- Something you are scared of.
- The best thing about my life.
- The bird who couldn’t fly.
- The other side of the rainbow.
- The possibility of aliens.
- The secret door leads to…
- Voices in the dark.
- What can the President can learn from kids?
- What do you think about older people or younger people?
- What do you think of your neighbors?
- What happens when you die?
- What if all the water in the world dries up?
- What if cows produced chocolate milk instead of white?
- What if there were no computers/television/phones/video games. What would you do?
- What is forbidden to you?
- What is your favorite book and why?
- What is your favorite dessert?
- What is your favorite song and why?
- What is your favorite time of day?
- What is your gifting?
- What makes you excited?
- What should a person do at least once in their lifetime?
- What would you do if a teacher marked some answers wrong on your test that were actually right?
- What would happen if it really did rain cats and dogs?
- What would you do if someone said you did something wrong and you didn’t?
- What would you do if someone told an inappropriate joke?
- What would you do if someone you were with got caught shoplifting and you had nothing to do with it?
- What would happen if there really was a zombie apocalypse?
- What would life in space look like to you?
- What would you do if you found a $50 bill in the street?
- What would you do if two of your best friends went somewhere without you?
- What would you do if you were invited to two parties on the same day at the same time?
- Why do you want to become a ___________ when you “grow up”?
- Wind energy: Good or bad
- Write about a hobby.
- Write a myth that explains why the sun rises and sets.
- Your life from someone else’s point of view.
