creative writing prompts for teens

creative writing prompts for teens

Inspiring Creative Writing Prompts for Teens

1. Introduction to Creative Writing Prompts

Creative writing helps to enhance your descriptive writing skills. By doing so you are not only creating a positive impression on the person who is marking your work but you are beginning to train your brain to think in terms of detail. Detail is everything when it comes to descriptive writing. As a student of higher education, much of our best work is going to happen in our heads. But in order to get something from our heads onto the laptop, to paper, to anywhere, you need to use that detail.

What many students, including myself, have found to be helpful is to write about something that has happened to us. Whether the story is truth or fiction will depend upon the assignment of course. With a narrative essay, the writer is asked to paint a picture in the reader’s mind. If a student writes a creative piece, it is not unusual for that student to write another piece from a different perspective than the first, so on and so forth. This allows a student more freedom of expression.

No longer kids, but not quite adults, teens are full of energy and imagination, and it’s important to channel that into valuable pursuits like writing. Creative writing is an important part of the writing you do while pursuing your secondary education. Sure, you will have essays to write, and when writing an essay, you are required to provide arguments that are backed up by facts. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t also write a creative essay. Often times a student will be required to write a narrative essay.

2. Exploring Different Genres

(d) Adventure: The main purpose of this genre is to take readers out of their element and involve them in the story. It is meant to create excitement and suspense. Write a story about how you and some of your friends went on a camping trip in the woods and ended up getting lost.

(c) Horror: This is a genre that is meant to be scary or disturbing. It was a normal summer day and my mother had no reason to be mad at me. What happened was not my fault. You could ask her yourself and she still would not know why she did what she did.

(b) Comedy: The main goal of this genre is to entertain the reader. It is usually light and fun to read. Comedy can be used as the main point of a story or to lighten the mood of a deeper story. Write about a very competitive jigsaw puzzle tournament.

(a) Mystery and detective fiction: In this genre, you use clues to try and solve a problem. Sometimes the story might have a problem that is not really a problem, only a perceived problem. Write a mystery about something that happened at your school that students will still be talking about 50 years from now.

One of the most common ways to get students to write is by providing them with a prompt that is a genre. This is an effective way to get them writing because they are given the freedom to write on a topic that they enjoy, which often results in better writing because the topic is one that they chose. Below are some examples of genres and prompts that can be used from each genre. Students will enjoy the opportunity to write in a genre that they prefer over another.

3. Developing Strong Characters

Fiction is driven by characters. A simple way to come up with a great story is to come up with a great character (one that will then manifest its greatness in the plot of the story to the delight of the reader). The trick to creating a well-rounded character is to not focus solely on defining major traits at the outset. Instead, let your characters evolve as you write. This may result in inconsistency which can be fixed with a little rewriting or a little added background. In order to let your characters evolve, give them room to breathe. Essentially, put them in a situation and let them react. Don’t plan out every detail of their action. Let the characters do what they would do and the results may surprise you. A second method for developing characters is to take a classic approach. Borrow stock character types and themes from a variety of sources. Then place them in a new environment and see how they change. One good method for developing a plot is to create a situation the character finds intolerable and then escalate it. Essentially, decide on an end to the story and then figure out a way to force the character to that end. Characters can also be developed in backstories. This may or may not help the character become more 3D depending on when the backstory is written. Writing backstory as it comes to the table can be very effective. This creates a situation where a character from the story takes on a life of its own and legends are truly born out of the character’s actions. Note however, that while this may satisfy the author’s curiosity, it may not end up in the story and even if it does, an extensive backstory that’s never stated in the main story can make the character’s actions seem contrived. A good method for integrating backstory and plot in order to make the character more dynamic is to have a backstory that directly affects the future of the plot. By developing characters around a central theme and a central event a writer can ensure tightness in the construction of a plot. This is often better for short stories where a quickly developing plot avoids lost interest.

4. Crafting Compelling Plots

From the publisher: “One of the hardest parts of creative writing is actually getting a new piece started. It can be difficult to simply begin writing, or to organize your ideas and make sure your plot and characters make sense. ‘Crafting Compelling Plots’ provides an extensive resource on plot development with many detailed methods to get your plot started and make it make sense. The page provides articles on brainstorming, creating a timeline, and effective plotting; articles on implementation with specific methods to improve any existing plot, story structure, and creating plot within character and conflict; and articles on revision with methods to evaluate the consistency of your plot. This page is highly detailed and will help you secure that your plot will be logical, consistent, and interesting.”

5. Enhancing Writing Skills and Techniques

Another method is to write an essay, bringing an abstract idea down to the bones. The writing prompt might serve as a philosophy for them to write an essay. An essay is a put-into-paper of complete details about what the essay is about. By writing an essay, teens will increase their logic and idea creativity. Try this writing prompt: “It is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.” Write a story, an essay, a poem, or a mix of the three that explores the wisdom of this statement.

One way to boost teens’ skills and techniques in writing is to encourage them to write a fan fiction or alternate ending of the selected story. This will help them analyze the story plot and the development of the characters. Additionally, the writer can generate new ideas or plots while the story is still ongoing. A good example of a writing prompt for this case is “A bright idea of a young detective is hindered because a senior and lazy detective pester on investigating the same mystery”.

The key to delivering good writing to teens is to utilize a writing prompt that inspires them. The writing prompts will help them explore their creativity as well as their knowledge of the selected topic. Not only that, teens will also gain the skills and techniques that lead to a well put-into-paper. Now, let’s enhance the skills and techniques!