how does creative writing make interesting

What Is Creative Writing? (Ultimate Guide + 20 Examples)

Creative writing begins with a blank page and the courage to fill it with the stories only you can tell.

I face this intimidating blank page daily–and I have for the better part of 20+ years.

In this guide, you’ll learn all the ins and outs of creative writing with tons of examples.

What Is Creative Writing (Long Description)?

Creative Writing is the art of using words to express ideas and emotions in imaginative ways. It encompasses various forms including novels, poetry, and plays, focusing on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary tropes.

Table of Contents

Let’s expand on that definition a bit.

Creative writing is an art form that transcends traditional literature boundaries.

It includes professional, journalistic, academic, and technical writing. This type of writing emphasizes narrative craft, character development, and literary tropes. It also explores poetry and poetics traditions.

In essence, creative writing lets you express ideas and emotions uniquely and imaginatively.

It’s about the freedom to invent worlds, characters, and stories. These creations evoke a spectrum of emotions in readers.

Creative writing covers fiction, poetry, and everything in between.

It allows writers to express inner thoughts and feelings. Often, it reflects human experiences through a fabricated lens.

Types of Creative Writing

There are many types of creative writing that we need to explain.

Some of the most common types:

• Short stories
• Screenplays
• Flash fiction
• Creative Nonfiction

Short Stories (The Brief Escape)

Short stories are like narrative treasures.

They are compact but impactful, telling a full story within a limited word count. These tales often focus on a single character or a crucial moment.

Short stories are known for their brevity.

They deliver emotion and insight in a concise yet powerful package. This format is ideal for exploring diverse genres, themes, and characters. It leaves a lasting impression on readers.

Example: Emma discovers an old photo of her smiling grandmother. It’s a rarity. Through flashbacks, Emma learns about her grandmother’s wartime love story. She comes to understand her grandmother’s resilience and the value of joy.

Novels (The Long Journey)

Novels are extensive explorations of character, plot, and setting.

They span thousands of words, giving writers the space to create entire worlds. Novels can weave complex stories across various themes and timelines.

The length of a novel allows for deep narrative and character development.

Readers get an immersive experience.

Example: Across the Divide tells of two siblings separated in childhood. They grow up in different cultures. Their reunion highlights the strength of family bonds, despite distance and differences.

Poetry (The Soul’s Language)

Poetry expresses ideas and emotions through rhythm, sound, and word beauty.

It distills emotions and thoughts into verses. Poetry often uses metaphors, similes, and figurative language to reach the reader’s heart and mind.

Poetry ranges from structured forms, like sonnets, to free verse.

The latter breaks away from traditional formats for more expressive thought.

Example: Whispers of Dawn is a poem collection capturing morning’s quiet moments. “First Light” personifies dawn as a painter. It brings colors of hope and renewal to the world.

Plays (The Dramatic Dialogue)

Plays are meant for performance. They bring characters and conflicts to life through dialogue and action.

This format uniquely explores human relationships and societal issues.

Playwrights face the challenge of conveying setting, emotion, and plot through dialogue and directions.

Example: Echoes of Tomorrow is set in a dystopian future. Memories can be bought and sold. It follows siblings on a quest to retrieve their stolen memories. They learn the cost of living in a world where the past has a price.

Screenplays (Cinema’s Blueprint)

Screenplays outline narratives for films and TV shows.

They require an understanding of visual storytelling, pacing, and dialogue. Screenplays must fit film production constraints.

Example: The Last Light is a screenplay for a sci-fi film. Humanity’s survivors on a dying Earth seek a new planet. The story focuses on spacecraft Argo’s crew as they face mission challenges and internal dynamics.

Memoirs (The Personal Journey)

Memoirs provide insight into an author’s life, focusing on personal experiences and emotional journeys.

They differ from autobiographies by concentrating on specific themes or events.

Memoirs invite readers into the author’s world.

They share lessons learned and hardships overcome.

Example: Under the Mango Tree is a memoir by Maria Gomez. It shares her childhood memories in rural Colombia. The mango tree in their yard symbolizes home, growth, and nostalgia. Maria reflects on her journey to a new life in America.

Flash Fiction (The Quick Twist)

Flash fiction tells stories in under 1,000 words.

It’s about crafting compelling narratives concisely. Each word in flash fiction must count, often leading to a twist.

This format captures life’s vivid moments, delivering quick, impactful insights.

Example: The Last Message features an astronaut’s final Earth message as her spacecraft drifts away. In 500 words, it explores isolation, hope, and the desire to connect against all odds.

Creative Nonfiction (The Factual Tale)

Creative nonfiction combines factual accuracy with creative storytelling.

This genre covers real events, people, and places with a twist. It uses descriptive language and narrative arcs to make true stories engaging.

Creative nonfiction includes biographies, essays, and travelogues.

Example: Echoes of Everest follows the author’s Mount Everest climb. It mixes factual details with personal reflections and the history of past climbers. The narrative captures the climb’s beauty and challenges, offering an immersive experience.

Fantasy (The World Beyond)

Fantasy transports readers to magical and mythical worlds.

It explores themes like good vs. evil and heroism in unreal settings. Fantasy requires careful world-building to create believable yet fantastic realms.

Example: The Crystal of Azmar tells of a young girl destined to save her world from darkness. She learns she’s the last sorceress in a forgotten lineage. Her journey involves mastering powers, forming alliances, and uncovering ancient kingdom myths.

Science Fiction (The Future Imagined)

Science fiction delves into futuristic and scientific themes.

It questions the impact of advancements on society and individuals.

Science fiction ranges from speculative to hard sci-fi, focusing on plausible futures.

Example: When the Stars Whisper is set in a future where humanity communicates with distant galaxies. It centers on a scientist who finds an alien message. This discovery prompts a deep look at humanity’s universe role and interstellar communication.

Watch this great video that explores the question, “What is creative writing?” and “How to get started?”:

What Are the 5 Cs of Creative Writing?

The 5 Cs of creative writing are fundamental pillars.

They guide writers to produce compelling and impactful work. These principles—Clarity, Coherence, Conciseness, Creativity, and Consistency—help craft stories that engage and entertain.

They also resonate deeply with readers. Let’s explore each of these critical components.

Clarity makes your writing understandable and accessible.

It involves choosing the right words and constructing clear sentences. Your narrative should be easy to follow.

In creative writing, clarity means conveying complex ideas in a digestible and enjoyable way.

Coherence ensures your writing flows logically.

It’s crucial for maintaining the reader’s interest. Characters should develop believably, and plots should progress logically. This makes the narrative feel cohesive.

Conciseness

Conciseness is about expressing ideas succinctly.

It’s being economical with words and avoiding redundancy. This principle helps maintain pace and tension, engaging readers throughout the story.

Creativity is the heart of creative writing.

It allows writers to invent new worlds and create memorable characters. Creativity involves originality and imagination. It’s seeing the world in unique ways and sharing that vision.

Consistency

Consistency maintains a uniform tone, style, and voice.

It means being faithful to the world you’ve created. Characters should act true to their development. This builds trust with readers, making your story immersive and believable.

Is Creative Writing Easy?

Creative writing is both rewarding and challenging.

Crafting stories from your imagination involves more than just words on a page. It requires discipline and a deep understanding of language and narrative structure.

Exploring complex characters and themes is also key.

Refining and revising your work is crucial for developing your voice.

The ease of creative writing varies. Some find the freedom of expression liberating.

Others struggle with writer’s block or plot development challenges. However, practice and feedback make creative writing more fulfilling.

What Does a Creative Writer Do?

A creative writer weaves narratives that entertain, enlighten, and inspire.

Writers explore both the world they create and the emotions they wish to evoke. Their tasks are diverse, involving more than just writing.

Creative writers develop ideas, research, and plan their stories.

They create characters and outline plots with attention to detail. Drafting and revising their work is a significant part of their process. They strive for the 5 Cs of compelling writing.

Writers engage with the literary community, seeking feedback and participating in workshops.

They may navigate the publishing world with agents and editors.

Creative writers are storytellers, craftsmen, and artists. They bring narratives to life, enriching our lives and expanding our imaginations.

How to Get Started With Creative Writing?

Embarking on a creative writing journey can feel like standing at the edge of a vast and mysterious forest.

The path is not always clear, but the adventure is calling.

Here’s how to take your first steps into the world of creative writing:

• Find a time of day when your mind is most alert and creative.
• Create a comfortable writing space free from distractions.
• Use prompts to spark your imagination. They can be as simple as a word, a phrase, or an image.
• Try writing for 15-20 minutes on a prompt without editing yourself. Let the ideas flow freely.
• Reading is fuel for your writing. Explore various genres and styles.
• Pay attention to how your favorite authors construct their sentences, develop characters, and build their worlds.
• Don’t pressure yourself to write a novel right away. Begin with short stories or poems.
• Small projects can help you hone your skills and boost your confidence.
• Look for writing groups in your area or online. These communities offer support, feedback, and motivation.
• Participating in workshops or classes can also provide valuable insights into your writing.
• Understand that your first draft is just the beginning. Revising your work is where the real magic happens.
• Be open to feedback and willing to rework your pieces.
• Carry a notebook or digital recorder to jot down ideas, observations, and snippets of conversations.
• These notes can be gold mines for future writing projects.

Final Thoughts: What Is Creative Writing?

Creative writing is an invitation to explore the unknown, to give voice to the silenced, and to celebrate the human spirit in all its forms.

Check out these creative writing tools (that I highly recommend):

Read This Next:

• What Is a Prompt in Writing? (Ultimate Guide + 200 Examples)
• What Is A Personal Account In Writing? (47 Examples)
• How To Write A Fantasy Short Story (Ultimate Guide + Examples)
• How To Write A Fantasy Romance Novel [21 Tips + Examples)

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Last updated on Dec 23, 2022

Creative Writing: 8 Fun Ways to Get Started

Creative writing is a written art form that uses the imagination to tell stories and compose essays, poetry, screenplays, novels, lyrics, and more. It can be defined in opposition to the dry and factual types of writing found in academic, technical, or journalistic texts.

Characterized by its ability to evoke emotion and engage readers, creative writing can tackle themes and ideas that one might struggle to discuss in cold, factual terms.

If you’re interested in the world of creative writing, we have eight fantastic exercises and activities to get you started.

1. Use writing prompts every week

Coming up with ideas for short stories can be challenging, which is why we created a directory of 1700+ creative writing prompts covering a wide range of genres and topics. Writing prompts are flexible in nature, they are meant to inspire you without being too constrictive. Overall, they are a great way to keep your creative muscles limber.

If you’re struggling for motivation, how does a hard deadline and a little prize money sound? Prompts-based writing contests are a fantastic way to dive into creative writing: the combination of due dates, friendly rivalries, prize money, and the potential to have your work published is often just what’s needed to propel you over the finish line. 

We run a weekly writing contest over on Reedsy Prompts, where hundreds of writers from all around the world challenge themselves weekly to write a short story between 1,000 and 3,000 words for a chance to win the $250 prize. Furthermore, the community is very active in providing constructive feedback, support, and accountability to each other 一 something that will make your efforts even more worthwhile.

Take a peek at our directory of writing contests which features some of the most prestigious open writing competitions in the world. 

2. Start journaling your days

Another easy way to get started with creative writing is to keep a journal. We’re not talking about an hour-by-hour account of your day, but journaling as a way to express yourself without filters and find your ‘voice in writing’. If you’re unsure what to journal about, think of any daily experiences that have had an impact on you, such as… 

Special moments . Did you lock yourself out of your house? Or did you catch a beautiful sunset on your way back from groceries? Capture those moments, and how you felt about them.

People . Did you have an unusual exchange with a stranger at the bar? Or did you reconnect with someone you haven’t seen in years? Share your thoughts about it.

World events . Is there something happening in the world right now that is triggering you? That’s understandable. You can reflect on it (and let some steam off) while journaling.

Memories . Did you go down memory lane after a glass of wine? Great, honor those memories by trying to recollect them in detail on paper so that they will always stay vivid in your mind.

Life decisions . Are you having an existential crisis about what to do with your life? Write down your thought process, and the pros and cons of the possible decisions in front of you. You’ll be surprised to discover that, not only is it a great creative writing exercise, but it can also actually help you sort your life out! 

If you struggle to write consistently, sign up for our How to Write a Novel course to finish a novel in just 3 months.  

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3. Create an anonymous social media account

Like anonymous blogging, an incognito Twitter account sidesteps the pressure that comes with attaching your name to your work. Anonymously putting tiny stories out into the ether gives you the freedom to create without worrying about the consequences — which is great, so long as you don’t use it as an opportunity to troll people or spread conspiracy theories. 

You could use the anonymous account in different ways. For example, you could…

• Tweet from unique points of view (e.g. a dog observing human behavior );
• Create a parody account of real or fictional people (e.g. an English poet from the Middle Ages );
• Challenge yourself to write tiny flash fiction stories that fit into Twitter threads.

Just remember, you’re not doing this to fool anyone into thinking that your account is real: be a good citizen and mark yourself a fiction account in your bio. 

But if you’re not really a social media kinda person, you may enjoy our next tip, which is a bit more on the analog side.

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4. Find an old photo and tell its story

Find a random old photo — maybe on the web, maybe from a photo album in a yard sale — and see what catches your attention. Look closely at it and try to imagine the story behind it. What was happening? Who are the people in it and how are they really feeling? Do they share a relationship, and of what kind? What are their goals and dreams?

In other words, bring the photo to life with your imagination. Don't be afraid to take artistic license with your story, as the goal is to be creative and have fun while writing. 

How do you know it’s creative writing?

5. Create a character from a random name

Just as our universe started from a few simple elements, you can create a character from a few basic information, like their name, culture, and gender. Reedsy’s handy character name generator can help you with that, offering random names based on archetypes, Medieval roots, fantasy traits and more. A few examples? A Celtic heroine named Fíona O'Keefe, a hero’s sidekick named Aderine, or a Korean track star named Park Kang-Dae.

Once you've chosen their name, begin to develop their personality. Set a timer for 5–10 minutes and write anything that comes to mind about them. It could be a page from their FBI dossier, a childhood diary entry, or simply a scene about them boiling an egg.

Just ‘go with the flow’ and don’t stop writing until your time is up. Repeat the process a few times to further hone the personality. If you like what you end up with, you can always go deeper later with our character profile template . 

If a stream-of-consciousness exercise is not your thing, you can try to imagine your character in a specific situation and write down how’d they respond to it. For example, what if they were betrayed by a friend? Or if they were elected in power? To help you imagine situations to put your character in, we made a free template that you can download below. 

FREE RESOURCE

Reedsy’s Character Questionnaire

40 questions to help you develop memorable characters.

6. Construct a character by people-watching

People watching is “the action of spending time idly observing people in a public place.” In a non-creepy way, ideally. Sit on a bench on a public square or on a road-side table at your favorite café, and start observing the people around you. Pay attention to any interesting quirks or behaviors, and write it down. Then put on your detective’s hat and try to figure out what that tells you about them.

For example, the man at the table next to you at the restaurant is reading the newspaper. His jacket and hat are neatly arranged next to him. The pages make a whipping sound as he briskly turns them, and he grimaces every time he reads a new article. Try to imagine what he’s reading, and why he’s reacting the way he is. Then, try to build a character with the information you have. It’s a fun creative exercise that will also, hopefully, help you better empathize with strangers. 

7. “Map” something you feel strongly about into a new context

Placing your feelings into new contexts can be a powerful creative writing exercise. The idea is to start from something you feel strongly about, and frame it into a completely different context. 

For example, suppose your heart is torn apart after you divorce your life-long partner: instead of journaling or crafting an entire novel  about it, you could tell a story about a legendary trapeze duo whose partnership has come to an end. If you’re struggling with politicking and petty power dynamics at the office: what if you “mapped” your feelings onto an ant who resents being part of a colony? Directing your frustration at a queen ant can be a fun and cathartic writing experience (that won’t get you in trouble if your co-workers end up reading your story).   

8. Capture the moment with a haiku

Haikus are poems from the Japanese tradition that aim to capture, in a few words, daily moments of insight (usually inspired by nature). In a nutshell, it’s about becoming mindful of your surroundings, and notice if you can see something in a new or deeper way 一 then use contrasting imagery to express whatever you noticed. 

Here’s an example:

Bright orange bicycle

Speeding through the autumn leaves

A burst of color waves

It may sound a bit complicated, but it shouldn’t be 一 at least not for the purpose of this exercise. Learn the basics of haiku-writing , then challenge yourself to write one per day for a week or month. At the end, you’ll be able to look back at your collection of poems and 一 in the worst case scenario 一 revisit small but significant moments that you would have otherwise forgot about.   

Creative writing can be any writing you put your heart and soul into. It could be made for the purpose of expressing your feelings, exploring an idea, or simply entertaining your readers. As you can see there’s many paths to get involved with it, and hundreds of exercises you can use as a starting point. In the next post, we’ll look more in detail at some creative writing examples from some fellow authors. 

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• 7 Techniques from Creative Writing You Can Use to Improve Your Essays

You wouldn’t have thought that essays have much in common with creative writing.

You should also read…

• How to Improve Your English Writing Skills
• How to Write Dazzlingly Brilliant Essays

Creative writing, by definition, involves being ‘creative’: making things up, letting your imagination run wild. Essays are about being factual and objective, communicating ideas and arguments in the clearest way possible and attempting to enhance the reader’s knowledge, rather than their imagination. But while the literary devices and colourful tales we associate with creative writing are indeed out of place in an essay, these two very different kinds of writing actually have a few similarities. Above all, they’re both meant to be read by other people, and that means that they need to sustain the reader’s interest. So, are there any writing techniques you can borrow from creative writing to help make your essays more interesting and original? Yes there are, and in this article, we’re going to show you how. Before we start, if you’re interested in attending a summer school to help develop these skills , click the link.

1. Think about your reader

With creative writing, as with any kind of writing, your reader is your most important consideration. You need to know and understand whom you’re writing for if you’re to do a good job of keeping them interested. Let’s think for a moment about the kind of person you’re writing for when you’re writing an essay and what you need to do to write specifically for them:

• Teachers or university lecturers – they’re going to be marking your essay, so it needs to answer the question effectively.
• They’ve set the question and they probably have a pretty good idea of how you’re going to answer it – so be original and unpredictable; catch them by surprise with an unusual approach or structure.
• They’re going to be reading many other responses to the same question – so they may well be bored by the time they get to yours. Keep them interested!
• They’re probably going to be pressed for time – so they won’t have time to reread badly written passages to try to understand what you’re getting at. Keep your writing easy to read, succinct and to the point.

What all these points boil down to is the importance of keeping your reader interested in what you have to say. Since creative writing is all about holding the reader’s interest, there must be some lessons to be learned from it and techniques that can be applied within the more limited style constraints of the academic essay. We’ll now turn to what these are.

2. Three-act structure

The three-act structure is a writing device used extensively in modern writing, including for film and television dramas. These ‘acts’ aren’t as distinct as acts in a play, as one follows seamlessly on from another and the audience wouldn’t consciously realise that one act had ended and another began. The structure refers to a plotline that looks something like this:

• Set-up – establishes the characters, how they relate to each other, and the world they inhabit. Within this first ‘act’, a dramatic occurrence called an ‘inciting incident’ takes place (typically around 19 minutes into a film) involving the principal character. They try to deal with it, but this results in another dramatic occurrence called a ‘turning point’. This sets the scene for the rest of the story.
• Confrontation – the turning point in the previous ‘act’ becomes the central problem, which the main character attempts to resolve – usually with plenty of adversity thrown their way that hampers their efforts. In a murder mystery, for example, this act would involve the detective trying to solve the murder. The central character – with the help of supporting characters – undergoes a journey and develops their knowledge, skills or character to a sufficient degree to be able to overcome the problem.
• Resolution – the climax of the story, in which the drama reaches a peak, the problem is overcome, and loose ends are tied up.

This structure sounds all very well for made-up stories, but what has it got to do with essay-writing? The key similarities here are:

• The central argument of your essay is the equivalent of the main character.
• The essay equivalent of the set-up and resolution are the introduction and conclusion.
• The inciting incident in an essay encourages you to get to the point early on in the essay.
• The equivalent of character development in the second act is developing your argument.
• The equivalent of the supporting characters is the evidence you refer to in your essay.

So, applying the three-act structure to an essay gives you something like this:

• Set-up – the introduction. This establishes what you’re talking about, setting the scene. The ‘inciting incident’ could be the introduction of evidence that contradicts a common theory, or the highlighting of a central disagreement in how something is interpreted.
• Confrontation – you discuss the different problems surrounding the topic you’re writing about. You develop the argument using various bits of evidence, moving towards an overall conclusion.
• Resolution – the conclusion. You summarise and resolve the argument with your own opinion, by coming down on one side or the other, having weighed up the evidence you’ve discussed. You could perhaps tie up loose ends by offering an alternative explanation for evidence that doesn’t sit with your conclusion.

Using this structure keeps you focused on the central point, and stops you from waffling, because everything you write is working towards resolving your argument. The use of the inciting incident in the first ‘act’ encourages you to get to the point early on in your essay, thereby keeping the reader interested. The principles of good plot-writing are centred around the connection between different events that show cause and effect, and this central tenet of the three-act structure has obvious parallels with the way in which essays work through presenting evidence in support of arguments.

3. An attention-grabbing opening

An oft-spouted piece of advice in creative writing is to use an attention-grabbing opening. One way of doing this is to start with a ‘flashback’, which could disrupt the chronology of events by transporting the reader directly back to the midst of the action, so that the story begins with maximum excitement. In a murder mystery, for instance, the writer might skip a slow build-up and instead use the murder itself to form the opening of the novel, with the rest of the story charting the efforts of the detective to uncover the perpetrator and perhaps telling the events prior to the murder in a series of flashbacks. The same principle can be applied to essays, though it’s easier to use in some subjects than others. To take an example, let’s say you were writing about how the First World War started. Rather than building up slowly with the various factors, an attention-grabbing opening could (briefly) describe the drama of the Battle of the Somme, perhaps citing some statistics about the number of men involved and killed, and quoting some war poetry about the horrors faced by the soldiers on the Front Line. Then, to introduce the purpose of the essay and launch into your argument about what started the war, a phrase such as, “It seems hard to imagine that all this began with…”. Alternatively, a rhetorical question: “But how did these tens of thousands of soldiers end up in the mud and horror of trench warfare? The story begins several years earlier, with…” It may not be the standard way of writing an essay, but you’ll certainly score points for originality and perhaps ruffle a few feathers.

4. Extended metaphors

Creative writing often makes use of extended metaphors. For example, when Shakespeare wrote the passage in Romeo and Juliet referring to “It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!” he was using an extended metaphor. With this in mind, it’s time to revisit a point we made in a previous article about writing more original essays , in which we argued that, rather than battling on with trying to explain a complex concept in a straightforward way, it might be easier to use an analogy to convey the meaning by drawing comparisons, which people find easier to understand. A metaphor is a kind of analogy, so the similarities with creative writing are strong here. In our previous article we used the example of radioactive decay. An analogy for this is the pressure with which water escapes from a hole in a bucket. It does so exponentially, just as radioactive substances decay exponentially. In both instances, the rate of a consumptive process depends on how much there is left of whatever is being depleted, which results in an exponential rate of decay. This concept is so much easier to explain using the analogy of water flowing from a hole in a bucket, as you give your reader something familiar to visualise in order to explain a concept with which they are unfamiliar.

5. Interesting details about setting and location

Another way of keeping your reader interested is to bring your essay to life with details about setting and location, just as creative writers do. Essays can become quite dry if you focus solely on the academic problems, but you can make them more interesting by peppering them with details. This may not work quite so well for a scientific essay, but it’s certainly relevant for some humanities subjects, in particular English literature, history and archaeology. For example, an essay about the Roman emperor Augustus could mention that he lived a famously modest lifestyle, quoting details from Roman writers and archaeological evidence that support this: Suetonius mentions his “low bed” (interesting because of what it says about accepted standards of Roman beds!) and coarse bread and cheese diet, and the relatively small and non-lavish remains of his house on the Palatine Hill in Rome back up the idea of his having lived a modest life. Incidental details like these can actually prove to be more significant than you initially realise, and you can use them to build your argument; in the case of Augustus, for example, his modest lifestyle is particularly important when seen in the context of Rome’s troubled history with kings. As he gradually acquired more power and became Rome’s first emperor, he had to avoid coming across as being too ‘regal’, and the little details we know about his way of life are significant in light of this. So, not only have you brought your essay to life, but you’ve raised an interesting point, too.

Few writers get it right first time . Once you’ve written a first draft, read through it and think about whether the order of your points is optimal and whether what you’ve written actually makes sense. It’s easy in the age of computers to chop and change – you can simply copy and paste part of your essay into another part where it might fit better, and then make minor changes to your wording so that it flows. After you’ve finished editing, have a final read through and check that you’re happy with the wording. Don’t forget to proofread to ensure that your spelling and grammar is impeccable!

7. And finally… record your ideas

Creative writers swear by having a notebook with them at all times, ready to jot down any ideas that suddenly spring to mind. You can adopt the same principle for your essay-writing, because you never know when the inspiration might strike. Have a think about your essay topic when you’re out and about; you’d be surprised what occurs to you when you’re away from your normal place of study. As you can see, there are more similarities between two apparently unrelated kinds of writing than you might have realised. It is, of course, possible to go too far with the creative writing idea when you’re essay-writing: literary devices aren’t always appropriate, and your essay still needs to retain objectivity and conform to the more formal conventions of academic writing. But there are certainly techniques to be borrowed from creative writing that will help your essays stand out from the crowd and give your teacher or lecturer a welcome break from the monotony of essay-marking.

See also our fabulous guide explaining more about ” What is Creative Writing ”.

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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

Inspiring Ink: Expert Tips on How to Teach Creative Writing

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How to Make Writing Fun: Engaging Tips for Enjoyable Composition

Written by Dan

Transforming the writing process into an engaging experience is essential for writers of all ages and stages. Finding joy in writing can dramatically improve a writer’s motivation and the quality of their work.

By incorporating playful strategies and creative exercises, the act of writing transcends routine, becoming an adventure in expression and imagination.

Emphasising the fun aspects of writing helps combat writer’s block and stirs enthusiasm, leading to a nurturing environment where ideas flourish.

Creating an enjoyable writing practice involves tapping into one’s creativity, which may include using fun activities like story maps or writing prompts that prompt laughter and thought-provoking scenarios.

It’s about constructing a space where the writer feels comfortable and inspired.

Regular writing fosters skill development, and by making it an enjoyable habit, young and seasoned writers alike can enhance their abilities while looking forward to each writing opportunity.

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways

• Embracing creativity leads to a more enjoyable writing experience.
• A supportive environment is key to maintaining writing motivation.
• Consistent practice is vital for skill enhancement in writing.

Igniting the Spark of Creativity

To make writing entertainment, one must stoke their creativity. This section details how to use writing prompts, engage with existing works, and try creative writing activities to ignite the imagination.

Exploring Writing Prompts and Ideas

Writing prompts are a splendid way to kick-start a creative session. They can challenge a writer to think differently and start on an unexpected journey.

For instance, someone could explore unique creative writing prompts that range from everyday scenarios to the utterly fantastical, planting the seeds for a range of stories or themes to explore.

Engaging with Literature and Poetry

Immersing oneself in literature and poetry is known to enrich one’s own creative faculties .

Reading diverse genres and styles exposes a writer to new phrases, plots, and character depths that they can then weave into their writing.

One can draw inspiration from a collection of sentence prompts that derive from poetic lines or literary excerpts, integrating the rhythms and nuances of seasoned writers into their work.

Creative Writing Activities for Inspiration

Engaging in creative writing activities often sparks inspiration and breaks through the feared writer’s block.

Writers can embrace strategies such as changing environments or engaging in collaborative storytelling, much like the guidance found in the article on overcoming the writer’s block .

Through these activities, they can solicit feedback, challenge their own norms, and unlock a treasure trove of creative ideas.

Cultivating a Fun Writing Environment

Creating a fun writing environment involves more than just a physical space; it involves incorporating elements that stimulate creativity and enjoyment.

One can transform the writing process into a delightful activity by using music and art, ensuring a comfortable setting, and integrating technology.

Using Music and Art to Enhance Writing

Music can significantly influence the atmosphere of a writing space, providing a rhythmic backdrop that can both soothe and energise the writer. For example, classical music might create a focused environment, while jazz could stimulate creative thinking.

Similarly, the presence of art , such as a colourful comic strip on the wall, can serve as a source of inspiration and a visual break from the text.

The Importance of a Comfortable Setting

A comfortable physical environment is crucial for a pleasant writing experience. This includes ergonomic furniture, such as a supportive chair and a desk at the correct height to prevent strain.

It also involves natural light and fresh air, which have been shown to improve mood and cognitive function, thereby making the process more enjoyable.

Integrating Technology in the Writing Process

The integration of technology into the writing environment can make the process more fun and efficient. Tools such as digital notebooks and writing software provide freedom to organise thoughts and ideas easily.

Moreover, writing apps with gamification elements can turn the act of writing into an engaging and rewarding experience, making it appealing even for those who may not traditionally enjoy writing.

By thoughtfully considering these aspects, one can cultivate an environment that brings joy to the writing process.

Overcoming Writing Challenges

In the journey of making writing enjoyable, addressing the challenges that hinder progress is crucial. Whether these barriers stem from fear or a lack of skill, tailored strategies can facilitate a more enjoyable writing experience.

Addressing Common Fears and Anxieties

Writers often grapple with fears such as doubt in their abilities or anxiety about the reception of their work. It’s essential to recognise that these fears are common and that overcoming them is a significant step towards enjoying the writing process.

Identifying specific fears , like writer’s block or fear of criticism, allows individuals to tackle these issues proactively with various writing activities .

Strategies for Reluctant Writers

Reluctance to write can stem from numerous factors, including a perceived lack of skill or interest in the activity. To engage reluctant writers , incorporating fun and creative writing prompts can spark interest.

Additionally, setting achievable goals and providing consistent positive feedback can motivate reluctant writers to persevere and discover the joy in writing.

Improving Handwriting and Letter Formation

Handwriting difficulties can diminish the enjoyment of writing, particularly for younger learners. Focusing on handwriting and letter formation through repetitive practice can drastically improve this skill.

Utilising tracing activities and emphasising the correct formation of letters are practical steps in this improvement. This educational resource offers worksheets and activities to help refine handwriting abilities.

By concentrating on the individual challenges a writer faces and offering supportive, growth-oriented tactics, one can transform the writing process into an engaging and pleasurable experience.

Enhancing Writing Through Practice

To make strides in one’s writing abilities, consistent practice paired with reflective refinement are crucial. Adopting a structured approach to daily exercises and attending diligently to the technical aspects of writing can elevate both enjoyment and proficiency.

Daily Writing Exercises

Engaging in daily writing exercises fosters discipline and sparks creativity. An individual might start with a simple goal of 150 words per day and gradually increase the target.

They could explore different genres or focus on a single topic to deepen their expertise. Whether it’s crafting short stories or experimenting with poetry , the key is to make this a regular routine that writers look forward to each day.

• Weekday : Descriptive passages
• Weekend : Creative storytelling

Incorporating Feedback and Reflection

An essential part of improving one’s writing is the ability to incorporate feedback and invest time in reflection . Writers should seek constructive criticism from peers or mentors and reflect on the insights provided.

By keeping a journal to note down reflections on their writing journey, they systematically enhance their skills.

• Collect feedback from various sources.
• Schedule time weekly to reflect on comments and identify areas for improvement.

The Role of Grammar and Spelling in Writing

Strong writing is underpinned by a solid grasp of grammar and spelling . Even the most imaginative stories can lose their lustre if they are riddled with errors.

Hence, one should always utilise tools and resources to check their writing, and consider revisiting the basics through reliable online platforms or comprehensive guides when necessary.

Grammar Resources:

• Online grammar checkers
• English grammar guides

Spelling Improvement :

• Spelling apps
• Daily spelling quizzes

Developing Skills in Young Writers

Cultivating a young writer’s ability requires a deliberate mix of theory and practice. Teachers can transform the process into an engaging and multifaceted educational journey with targeted writing lessons, dynamic writing activities, and a strong emphasis on reading.

Writing Lessons in the Classroom

The groundwork for effective writing begins with structured writing lessons in the classroom. Teachers should focus on age-appropriate literacy frameworks involving students in various writing styles, such as narratives and persuasive texts.

This equips them with a diverse skill set, vital for their development. For example, balancing group activities and solo tasks helps students appreciate different aspects of the writing process.

Fun Writing Activities for Students

Engaging in fun writing activities can significantly enhance a student’s writing experience. Activities like ‘Think-Write-Pass’, where students write spontaneously before passing their work on for peer input, inject a playful element into the learning environment.

Moreover, including tasks that reflect children’s interests and everyday life contexts can create a sense of relevance and increase their willingness to participate.

Encouraging Reading to Improve Writing

A robust relationship exists between reading and writing development. Encouraging students to read a wide range of genres enriches their vocabulary and exposes them to different writing styles.

This exposure is essential for them to be able to analyse and imitate quality writing, thereby enhancing their own writing competencies. Teachers might consider setting up a classroom library to provide easy access to a variety of books.

Related Posts

About The Author

I'm Dan Higgins, one of the faces behind The Teaching Couple. With 15 years in the education sector and a decade as a teacher, I've witnessed the highs and lows of school life. Over the years, my passion for supporting fellow teachers and making school more bearable has grown. The Teaching Couple is my platform to share strategies, tips, and insights from my journey. Together, we can shape a better school experience for all.

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How to Write an Interesting Article

Last Updated: March 11, 2024 Approved

This article was co-authored by Michelle Golden, PhD . Michelle Golden is an English teacher in Athens, Georgia. She received her MA in Language Arts Teacher Education in 2008 and received her PhD in English from Georgia State University in 2015. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 87% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 58,390 times.

Writing an interesting article is an art. You need to think about answering the right questions, using the correct writing techniques, and formatting your article in the best way. This may all seem a bit intimidating if you're new to article writing, but it's actually a lot easier than it sounds. If you know how to choose the right topic, write in a way that engages your readers, and use tricks to keep them hooked, you will be writing fantastic articles before you know it.

Planning Your Topic

• The right kind of research for you will depend upon the kind of article you are writing, For example, if you are writing a news article, you will probably want to get out there and interview people who are related to the story. If you are writing about fitness trends, however, you may be able to do all of your research online.
• When doing research, be sure to consult reliable sources. Look for academic articles, published books, and websites that are maintained by reputable organizations. Avoid personal blogs, forums, and promotional material whenever possible. [1] X Research source
• Research and writing will both be much easier if you stay up to date about the topics that you write about, Even when you aren't planning to write an article, read up on industry trends and news. This knowledge will make you more intuitive to the needs and wants of your reader when it's time to choose your next topic.

• Think about how much your audience already knows about the topic. If it's geared towards novices, you will need to walk them through the material step by step and provide lots of background information. If it's geared towards people who are knowledgeable about the field, you will need to provide a more in-depth analysis and maybe utilize some industry jargon.
• If you know exactly who your audience is, you can make your writing serve a purpose. Always aim to solve a specific problem that your audience is experiencing with each article.

• Take a moment to brainstorm questions that you have about your topic. For example, if your topic is thunderstorms, you may be wondering what locations have the most thunderstorms, why some places have more thunderstorms than other places, and what kind of damage a thunderstorm can cause. These are all great places to start for your article.
• Make sure the questions you're asking are interesting to other people, not just you. Try typing your keywords into major search engines to find out what people are asking about your topic on social media or forums. If people want to know about something, they will find your article interesting.

• Even if you know everything there is to know about your topic, it's still important to do research so that you know what else has been published on your topic. If you write an article that repeats information that is available in another article (even if this was not your intention) it will not be as interesting.
• If you can't come up with a completely new topic, try digging a little deeper into topics that have already been covered by others. Look for questions that the other articles failed to answer or angles that they didn't cover and make these the focus of your article.

Writing Compelling Content

• If you are writing for a company, they probably have a manual that outlines what kind of voice they want you to use in your articles. If you ever have any questions about what is appropriate for your article, be sure to ask your editor or supervisor.
• While this isn't appropriate for every kind of article, using the first person pronouns "I," "me," and "my" can help your writing sound much more personable. Avoid using the first person plural pronouns "we," "our," and "us," even if you're trying to write on behalf of an entire company. This does not sound nearly as personal.
• If it's appropriate for your article, express emotions and opinions. Readers will appreciate the sincerity that this brings to your writing.
• If it is appropriate for your industry, consider telling a joke or making a reference to a current event. This will help your reader connect with you.

• You may find it helpful to write an outline to help you keep track of the answers to these various questions. Whether you do this or not, it is a good idea to confirm that you have thoroughly answered each question during the editing process.
• Keep in mind that some of the questions will require more elaboration than others, depending on your topic. For example, if you are writing an article about cooking, you will probably devote the most space to discussing how to prepare the meal and what ingredients are needed.

• For example, if you are writing an article about your favorite travel destination, consider describing the white sand, the sparkling blue water, and the warm sun instead of just saying that the beach is beautiful.
• This technique works better for some topics than for others, so don't feel that you can never tell. For example, technical articles probably require more telling than showing.

• Foreshadowing can add interest to your story. Consider giving your readers hints about what is to come in the title or opening sentences of your article. For example, if you are writing an article about a new business that opened in your town, you might foreshadow information about a major setback that occurred along the way by saying something like, "The owner never anticipated that she would face as many obstacles as she did."
• Readers will get hooked faster if you start your article in the middle of the action, rather than by providing background information right away. Try to use suspense to keep them guessing about what will happen next whenever you can.
• Most great stories have some kind of conflict, so make sure this comes through in your writing. For example, if you are writing about a new apartment complex that is being built, it's much more interesting to include opinions from people who are both for and against the project than to simply state that the project is moving forward. [6] X Research source

• For example, if you are writing an article about the prevalence of a disease, it would be helpful to include specific figures regarding how many people have been infected, the mortality rate, and how these numbers have changed over time.
• Even if your article does not lend itself to statistics, you can engage readers by providing specific examples of the impact of a certain situation. For example, if you are writing an article about dog training, you might include specific information about unwanted behaviors that are common in dogs who have not been trained.

Making Your Article Reader-Friendly

• Make sure it matches the article content. Readers will not appreciate it if they start reading your article because they thought it would be about one topic, only to find out that it's about something else entirely.
• Make sure it is easily understandable and unambiguous. Avoid using words that have multiple meanings or could be misunderstood. Keep in mind that readers will not spend much time trying to decipher your title.
• Make it as specific as possible. Instead of writing "How to Decorate a Room," consider something like "How to Decorate Your Living Room Like a Professional for $200."

• Readers typically find numbered or bullet pointed lists very easy to read. If you can't make a list, consider breaking up your article into different sections using subtitles.
• Make sure readers can find the answers they are looking for quickly. This may mean bolding the most important information or making sure your subtitles are very specific. [9] X Research source

• Make sure you have completely addressed your topic. If there are questions that have been left unanswered, your article is too short.
• Make sure you are not repeating yourself or writing sentences that don't add any important information to your article. If you are, you need to cut back.

• Be as specific as possible. When you talk in general terms, you run the risk of losing clarity. It helps to offer examples and descriptions whenever possible. For example, instead of writing, "There are a lot of different birds in this area," consider writing something like, "Birdwatchers come to this area to admire the many different species that live here, including robins, blue jays, cardinals, and doves."
• When editing your work, be on the lookout for words that are not adding any additional information and get rid of them. For example, if you wrote, "People love this city for the simple reason that it has so much to offer," you can change it to "People love this city because it has so much to offer" without losing any of the meaning of the sentence.
• Don't feel like you need to use long or fancy words to sound interesting. This kind of language can make your writing more difficult to understand, so stick with the simpler word when in doubt.
• It's a good idea to think about your reader when determining how complex your language should be. If you are writing for a general audience, try to write at or near a 9th grade reading level. If you are writing for a more specialized audience, adjust the complexity of your writing accordingly. If you're not sure what reading level your article is, you can try running it through one of many free online reading level calculators. [12] X Research source

• Add photos that will help your reader understand what you are talking about in your article.
• If you are talking about numbers, consider adding a chart or graph to illustrate the data. This will make it much easier for readers to absorb.
• People also find videos very helpful, so incorporate one into your article if you think it is relevant.

• Some people find it helpful to just write without worrying about spelling or grammar for their first draft. This is fine, as long as you are very thorough in your editing process and correct any errors you may have made.
• Read through your article very slowly so you will be more likely to catch typos and misused words.
• Be on the lookout for any sentence that seems too long or clunky. If it sounds a little confusing to you, chances are it will sound very confusing to your audience.
• If possible, have someone else read over your work and give you feedback. It's much easier for someone who did not write the article to pick up on potentially confusing verbiage.
• Once you have self-edited your work or had someone else edit it for you, write your final draft, making sure to copy edit it for errors one last time before submitting.

How Do You Come Up With an Interesting Angle For an Article?

Sample Articles

Community Q&A

• Never skew information or quote somebody out of context to make your article more interesting. It's always best to be honest and truthful, even if this makes your article less exciting. [14] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Always cite all of your sources. Failing to do can amount to plagiarism. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.easybib.com/guides/writing-guides/paper-types/how-to-write-a-research-paper/
• ↑ https://www.copyblogger.com/boring-topic-content-marketing/
• ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article-writing-how-make-your-creative-interesting-tom-crowe
• ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/735/05/
• ↑ https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-write-interesting-content
• ↑ https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/headline-writing-tips
• ↑ https://blog.kissmetrics.com/ingredients-of-great-content/
• ↑ https://www.dailywritingtips.com/whats-the-reading-level-of-your-writing/
• ↑ https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules-and-tips/tips-for-writing-feature-articles.html

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How to Make a Story Interesting? 14 Critical Elements!

August 7, 2023

Many writers find it challenging to create a story that is interesting throughout the whole thing. How can I make my story more interesting is a complex question many newer writers especially find challenging.

While there are many ways to make a story interesting, not every technique will work for every story. Create a strong plot, fleshed-out characters, action, suspense and more while focusing on the planning, writing and editing stages separately. Be thorough on each step before moving to the next.

Table of Contents

Craft a Tight Plot

The number one thing to do before writing anything is to craft a tight plot.

Writing without really knowing in detail where the story is going will likely result in a lackluster tale that doesn’t feel cohesive.

Some writers find that very little planning and just writing by the seat of their pants works for them. However, this sort of writing is difficult to edit and may result in a long process of fine-tuning the story.

For the best results you need to spend time figuring out the key events of the story and make sure they are exciting and build up anticipation in your readers. Then, build these key events into a full story by adding more scene ideas and figuring out the best length for each part.

The journey from beginning to end should be something your characters must jump through hoops to achieve.

For each of these plot points, start by writing out a brief outline of what you want to happen for each section before actually writing the first word.

By the time you have finished the plotting section, you should have a detailed plan of the whole story.

You can always add in any ideas that you come up with later, once the story is underway or edit previous sections to fit your overall plan, but you need to have a well-crafted plot full of action, tension, risk, rewards and so on clearly planned out before you start.

It can be hard to add these items later so getting it right from the beginning is paramount to a good story.

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What are The Elements of a Story? Learn The 4 Most Critical

Fleshed Out Characters

Your characters are the heart of your story, and if they aren’t compelling people, it will be challenging to make your story interesting.

It is important to create realistic people with complex motivations, fears and ambitions.

By creating interesting characters that the readers care about, you will add depth and interest to your story.

It can be constructive when thinking up ideas for your characters to pretend that they are real people because then you have an idea of how they would act in the situations you place them in.

For example, if your character is extremely shy and introverted, it would be unrealistic for them to take on an adventure that takes them into unknown lands with lots of strangers without a very good reason.

In this case, it would only work if the plot required such a character to be brave or if they were so desperate to go on the adventure that they overcame their fear and went anyway. The plot needs to have an infection point to force them to make that decision.

Then create strong characters, starting by brainstorming character traits that you want them to have, and add backstories about their lives before the story begins in your book.

Figure out their motivations, fears and ambitions and what they really want out of life.

By doing this for each character, you will have a whole cast of realistic people that the readers can identify with and add interest to your story.

Hooking Opening

Time to start writing.

Your opening chapter or section is crucial because it sets the tone and hooks the reader into needing to continue with the rest of the book.

You can put readers off very quickly by writing a dull, boring or confusing opening.

Start by thinking about what your story will be and consider how you want it to make the reader feel.

The first few pages should be exciting and draw readers in so they want to keep going.

To do this, you need to hook them with a really interesting description of a scene, a character’s internal thoughts or perhaps a start of the mystery to be solved.

For example, you could write an opening sentence that sums up the essence of your book and lets readers know what they are in for:

The boys looked at each other in fear as they felt the ground beneath their feet rumble with the approach of whatever was in the dark.

This kind of opening works because it creates a sense of tension and raises questions about what is going to happen next. Who are the boys? Where are they? Lots of questions from one sentence. Build on this in the first few paragraphs and pages to hook readers.

Add Lots of Action

Next, make sure that your plot has plenty of action and movement.

Even the most well-planned and crafted story can become tedious without action to drive it forward.

It is easy to slip into slower, more reflective moments, but these need to be few and far between if you want readers to stay interested.

Action is sometimes pictured as big and showy, like car chases, jet fights, foot chase through the subway, etc.

You do need plenty of action sections throughout your story, of course, but action can be on a small scale as well but has a more significant impact than just a simple description.

So you would avoid describing mundane details such as characters doing everyday activities such as having a meal, going to work or getting ready for bed.

Instead, try to think of an interesting way to essentially write the same event.

Let’s use a simple example of something mundane:

‘Do you want a cup of tea?’ her mother asked. ‘No thanks,’ Julie replied, ‘I’m about to leave for work.’

This first example is very dull and would be much better if you wrote it as a character taking action.

‘Do you want a cup of tea?’ her mother asked. Before her mother had finished the sentence, Julie was already out of the door and calling over her shoulder that she would get a drink from the cafe near work.

Even though this second example doesn’t have much more detail and is basically the same, the slight change to a character in action adds a sense of urgency and makes it more interesting to read.

Your characters should be doing exciting things as often as possible. This will keep readers hooked and make your writing more interesting as you think outside the box and put your own spin on things.

Generous Amounts of Suspense

Suspense and the tension that goes with it are a great way to keep readers interested in your story and it should feature throughout.

Make sure that there are plenty of twists and turns, whatever happens, and never allow the tension to drop.

Suspense works best when it is delivered in small doses, so sprinkle it throughout your story rather than dumping it in big chunks here and there.

To keep up the suspense, keep vital information from the reader, so they always wonder what will happen next or who to trust.

Let’s go back to our simple example of someone getting ready for work again:

‘Do you want a cup of tea?’ her mother asked. Julie stopped in the hallway and turned to face her mother, ‘I’m sorry, what did you say?’ she replied, looking confused.

This works because it creates a bit of suspense by withholding information from the reader. In this case, Julie’s confusion. Why is she confused by a simple question? What was she thinking about instead?

If we had been told immediately that something was wrong, we wouldn’t have been able to build suspense. So instead, we have a small suspense step building up to whatever more significant plot issue Julie will have.

There are a number of ways to achieve this kind of effect and it is essential to remember that your writing must never be predictable if you want readers to be hooked.

The best writing is that which makes someone want to turn the page and find out what happens next. So remember that every line you write should create some kind of tension, whether it is small-scale suspense or something more dramatic like a character racing against time to save someone’s life.

Write Faster Slow Poke

One thing that can make it difficult to create suspense and for your writing to become interesting is if you write too slowly.

It can be very difficult to keep a flow going if you are a slow writer who only produces a few hundred words a week. How will you keep up the story pace if you take a year or more to create a story?

It is not impossible, of course, but you are making it much harder for yourself.

Try to write as much as you can regularly, so the story is fresh and exciting to you. This will come across on the page and keep your readers hooked.

Set yourself a goal of how many words you want to fill in a specific time frame. This can be as little as 200 or 500 words per day to as much as 2,000 or 3,000 for those who have more time on their hands.

Setting word count goals encourages you to write faster and helps your writing become interesting because the story pace will be much higher.

Try to aim for 10,000 words per month if you are a beginner. This is achievable for someone who writes every day but should mean that your writing is more likely to flow better and more interesting.

Proper Pacing

Your story needs to move at a reasonable pace otherwise, it becomes boring.

Writing that moves along too slowly will bore even the most patient reader as they wait for something exciting to happen and they will give up on it.

So make sure you keep the pace as fast as possible at all times.

One way to do this is by avoiding descriptions of mundane things, such as characters doing things they would normally do, especially when there’s no point to it.

In the example above, Julie going to work every day wouldn’t be a good place for suspense unless it has a point in the plot. Don’t just include it because that is what she does in the morning. It should be cut out if it does not have a purpose later.

Instead of describing the character doing something unimportant that would slow down your writing, just skip ahead and get straight to the action. This will keep your writing fast-moving without leaving too much out, making for better quality fiction overall.

Help! How Can I Progress My story? 12 Steps to a Killer Plot

Meaningful Dialog

Dialog needs to be very well written. Many readers are aware of how bad dialog is immediately and it will put them off your book. Poorly written dialog just stands out.

Dialog needs to be meaningful and should not just consist of one line conversations between characters.

Look for opportunities to give the characters a purpose in what they are saying.

Read out your dialog and see if it sounds natural. Try to imagine how they would be feeling. Would the emotions come through? Then, rewrite the dialog so it gives you a better idea of who your characters are.

Also, make sure to create dialog that is a little different for each character. They will not all sound the same so make sure there are small differences in what you write. It will sound very flat if all the characters talk the same way.

Just having conversations in your novel is not going to make for exciting reading. So keep in mind that every line should have some kind of meaning and purpose.

Aim for meaningful, smooth dialog that flows well, as this will make your writing more interesting to read.

Edit Out The Filler

Once you have finished your first draft, it is typical that you will find lots of areas that don’t add anything to the story during the first edit.

There are often things your characters do, descriptions of settings and even little bits of dialog where they can be cut out. Everything should have a purpose when you write your first draft, but in some cases, it is not immediately obvious why something was there in the first place.

You typically make huge improvements between draft 1 and draft 2. The advantage is that you now have a full picture of the story as written and can work to enhance it.

That means going through the entire manuscript and thinking about all the different elements, what they do, and how they affect your writing. Then you want to look at everything that doesn’t add anything, cut those out and then smooth over the remaining parts, which now have a bit more impact.

This will make for much better quality fiction overall as you are focusing on the best material.

Know Your Audience

Writers should always try to connect with their readers and know who they are writing for. Getting to know your audience can help you better understand them and, therefore, help you write something more enjoyable for the reader.

An obvious example is that if you are writing a children’s book, there may be certain words or situations which aren’t appropriate, so knowing your audience means you can avoid this and keep things simple and straightforward for the reader.

For more adult-oriented books, knowing your reader can help you use language suitable for them and not alienate or confuse them by using complex words or concepts.

When you write for a specific audience and keep them in mind, you are able to write something more relatable. That will help you engage with your readers, creating a great relationship between writer and reader.

So when it comes time to edit, think about who you are writing for. How old are they? What do they know? Then use the information you have gathered so far to enhance your writing.

Always keep your audience in mind when writing and editing to create a better experience for them.

It makes the whole thing more interesting as you know who you are writing for so you can concentrate on including essential elements that will interest your reader specifically.

Skip Some Rules

Writing has many rules that, as a beginner, you generally should learn and use, at least as you develop your skills and writing technique.

But don’t be discouraged if you aren’t following them all because it is ok to break some rules when writing fiction.

The good news is that there might be something that could make the book better if you break one of the many rules.

This can make your writing more exciting and engaging for the reader as you push the boundaries and take them on a journey where they never know what will happen next.

Once you have learned the so-called rules and are getting skilled as a writer, you can start to think about how you can break some and make something more interesting as a result.

So feel free to ignore the rules and experiment a little as you write.

This can be a way to separate your writing from other books in the same genre and stand out when it comes to being published.

Defeat Writers Block

Many writers have issues writing at some point in their careers. Whether it is a lack of motivation to write regularly, ideas that do not seem very good or are just stuck on developing the scene.

Everyone gets writers’ block at some point and it can be very frustrating for someone who is using writing as a career or just has an urge to write often.

One thing that works for some is to just write anything at all literally. Just getting the mind moving to produce anything for some people will quickly restart the process for what you really should be writing.

Sometimes taking a break from your current project can help, so give that a try.

If you really have no idea what to do next, it might be a good idea to think about other concepts you can maybe turn into future projects.

Sometimes your mind gets hooked on the current project and it is hard to move on, so taking a step back can allow for better inspiration when things come around again.

By taking a little break and recharging your batteries by doing something completely different such as getting some fresh air, gardening, or a short trip somewhere, you will be able to come back to the writing process with a new perspective and renewed interest.

Get Input Early and Often

One of the best ways to make sure your story is interesting and improve it is to get other people involved.

When other people are interested in your project or story, it can motivate you to work harder on it and ensure that you are getting the very best out of it.

Having other people read through your story will also give you different perspectives, which could help you find areas that need improvement.  

As soon as you have a reasonable draft, get some friends or family to read it and give you some feedback.

You will be able to see where the story needs development based on their comments and how they felt about it overall.

Trying out different writing styles is one of the most effective ways to make your story interesting, as you can try out different tones, language and characterization to really push the boundaries and give the book a unique feel.

It is important to note that this should not be done too early in the writing process because you will need feedback on each chapter or scene.

Also, try using different techniques for characters so they are interesting but realistic which is something that everyone likes to read about.

Join a writers group to get feedback from fellow writers who have experience in writing. This can be a great way to get support from people who are in or have been in the same position you are in your learning journey.

They will generally be only too willing to help you make your book stand out from the crowd when it comes to publishing.

Impactful Finale

As you plot out your book, make sure that you have a very well-planned and executed finale.

This should make the reader feel a wide range of emotions to leave them with a lasting impression.

It can also help if you tie up most, but not all, the loose ends, which will make your story more interesting as some elements are open for interpretation.

You want to leave people wanting more so they immediately start asking for follow-up.

So there are 14 essential elements to keep in mind as you start your journey. Many of them are easily understood but can take some practice to learn and implement well.

Just work on a few at a time and keep improving. You will soon find that these elements are part of your writing habits.

The most important thing is to enjoy yourself and have fun with it.

If you are struggling with any part of this, don’t worry too much about it because in time, it will all come naturally to you when the process becomes more enjoyable than difficult. Good luck!

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How to Make Literature Interesting: Engaging Tips and Techniques

By: Author Paul Jenkins

Posted on Published: June 8, 2023  - Last updated: June 23, 2023

Categories Writing , Creativity

In today’s fast-paced digital world, holding someone’s attention, especially in literature, can be challenging.

However, several effective strategies are for making literature more engaging and captivating for readers. This article explores various techniques that can help transform any piece of literature into a more interesting and enjoyable experience.

One of the key aspects of making literature interesting is the ability to connect with the reader.

This can be achieved by ensuring that the material is presented in a relatable and easily understandable manner. Everyone has varied tastes and preferences regarding genres and writing styles, so it’s essential to keep these in mind when attempting to create interest.

Tapping into a reader’s emotions, curiosity, and imagination can go a long way in making literature more appealing.

Furthermore, incorporating elements of surprise and unpredictability can provide an exciting reading experience.

Unique plot twists, intriguing characters, and unconventional storylines can motivate readers to continue exploring the literary piece, heightening their interest and engagement. Ultimately, through a combination of relatability, captivating narratives, and creative storytelling, we can make literature a more interesting and fulfilling experience for all readers.

Creating a Hook

Engaging opening.

An engaging opening is essential to capture readers’ attention and spark their curiosity.

• Start with a captivating first sentence, using an interesting fact, quote, or statement to pique their interest and make them want to continue reading.
• Craft the following sentences to gradually build on that initial hook and draw the reader further into the story. This opening helps connect the reader and the text, driving them to explore the entire piece.

Using Media

Incorporating different forms of media, such as videos, images, or audio, into your literature helps create a multisensory experience for the reader.

People learn and process information in various ways, so adding diverse media can make the text more accessible and engaging for a wider audience.

Additionally, considering the popularity of movies and other visual media, these forms can bridge the gap between reading and other types of entertainment, making the piece more appealing and memorable.

• Videos : Integrating relevant video clips can effectively illustrate a scene or capture a character’s emotions. This approach enhances the reader’s understanding and enjoyment of the text.
• Images : Visual aids such as illustrations or photographs can complement the literature and offer readers another way to connect with the content. Images provide a mental image of a scene or character, adding depth and richness to the reading experience.
• Audio : Audiobooks, podcasts, and music can effectively convey a story, which can help readers who struggle with traditional written text. These audio resources can be valuable tools in making literature accessible and engaging for all readers.

In conclusion, to create a hook that makes literature interesting, focus on crafting an engaging opening that captures the reader’s attention, and incorporate various forms of media to cater to diverse learning styles. This approach will result in a captivating and immersive reading experience.

Teaching Strategies

Classroom activities.

Incorporating various classroom activities can make literature more engaging for students.

To create a fun learning environment, teachers can include a mix of individual, pair, and group activities that relate directly to the literature being studied.

For example, students can work together to create a visual representation of a story’s setting, characters, or main events. This activity allows students to grasp the content better and exercise their creativity.

Discussions and Debates

Engaging students in discussions and debates can make teaching literature interesting by encouraging them to analyze and interpret various aspects of the text.

By facilitating open-ended conversations where everyone is invited to participate, teachers can create a dynamic learning experience.

One technique is to pose thought-provoking questions related to themes, character motivations, and other story elements, encouraging students to share their insights and potentially sparking lively debates.

Role play is an effective strategy for making literature exciting and immersive. Students can take on the roles of different characters and enact scenes from the text, experiencing the story from various perspectives.

This approach helps students develop a deeper understanding of the characters and their motivations and enhances their communication skills and empathy.

Including role play in the literature classroom also allows students to connect with the text emotionally, making it a memorable and enjoyable learning experience.

Integrating games into teaching literature can make the learning experience more interactive and enjoyable.

Using games that directly relate to a specific text’s themes, plot, or characters can provide students with a fun way to explore and analyze the story.

For example, teachers might create a literature-based quiz game where students earn points for answering questions correctly, encouraging them to pay close attention to the details of the text.

Incorporating Visuals

Visual elements can play a significant role in making literature more interesting and engaging. This section explores several ways to incorporate visuals into literature studies, helping readers to appreciate literary works and better understand the themes, concepts, and ideas presented.

Movie Adaptations

One of the most effective ways to bring literature to life is through movie adaptations. These visual representations of written works can help readers to visualize characters, settings, and scenes described in the texts.

Watching films based on literary works, such as Shakespeare’s plays, can provide valuable insights into the author’s intentions and help the viewer better grasp the thematic elements and symbolic devices used. Some popular examples include:

• Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet”
• Kenneth Branagh’s “Hamlet”
• Joe Wright’s “Pride and Prejudice”

Author Masterclasses

Learning about literature directly from the authors themselves can be an enriching experience. Author masterclasses allow authors to share their knowledge, techniques, and inspirations behind their works.

For example, renowned authors like Neil Gaiman and Margaret Atwood offer masterclasses that delve into character development, plot structure, and other aspects of creative writing. Participating in author masterclasses can help individuals enhance their writing and reading experience and gain a deeper understanding of literary works.

Performance Videos

Live performances, such as plays, recitals, and spoken word poetry, can effectively introduce visuals into the study of literature.

Watching productions of classic plays like Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” or modern performances such as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” can offer a unique and engaging perspective on literary works.

Additionally, videos of spoken word poetry can showcase the power of language and help viewers connect with the emotions conveyed in the text.

Performance videos can be easily accessed on online platforms like YouTube or streamed through subscription services.

The Power of Writing

Writing assignments.

One way to make literature more interesting is by involving the reader.

Creating writing assignments can be an effective way to engage readers and inspire their creativity. Some examples of writing assignments that could be incorporated into a lesson or book club discussion are:

• Write a different ending to a story
• Create a character profile for a character in the book
• Write a newspaper article about an event in the story

These assignments can help readers develop a deeper understanding of the text and allow them to explore their creativity.

Modeling Writing Techniques

Another approach to making literature more interesting is highlighting and analyzing authors’ various writing techniques. This can be done through the following methods:

• Identify examples of an author’s use of literary devices such as foreshadowing, symbolism, or irony.
• Analyze the author’s choice of words and tone to discuss how it affects the reader’s perception of the story.
• Examine the structure and organization of the text, discussing how it contributes to the overall storytelling.

By focusing on these writing techniques, readers can appreciate the craft of writing and its impact on the overall experience of the story. This deeper understanding can lead to a more enjoyable and engaging experience with literature.

Making Literature Accessible

Choosing engaging stories.

One of the most crucial steps in making literature more interesting is selecting engaging stories that appeal to diverse readers.

By choosing captivating stories, we can ignite readers’ interest and help them appreciate the value of literature in their lives. While classic works from authors like Shakespeare are essential, modern and diverse selections should also be incorporated.

To ensure a selection of engaging stories, consider the following:

• Diversify genres: Offer a variety of genres, such as fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and drama, to ensure that readers can find something that resonates with them.
• Relatable characters: Choose stories with characters that readers can connect with and understand. This will help them delve deeper into the narratives and develop empathy.
• Cultural representation: Seek out literature that represents different cultures and experiences. This can encourage readers to explore new perspectives and develop an appreciation for diverse viewpoints.

Creating a Literary Environment

A conducive environment encourages exploration and makes literature more accessible. A welcoming space invites readers to immerse themselves in the world literature creates.

Focus on the following aspects to create a comfortable literary environment:

• Comfortable Spaces : Ensure that your reading area, whether a library or a classroom, has comfortable seating options and sufficient lighting. This creates a space where readers can relax and delve into the world of literature.
• Visual Displays : Use visual displays like posters, book covers, and artwork related to literary works to spark readers’ interest and motivate them to engage with the materials.
• Accessible Materials : Ensure reading materials are easily accessible to all readers. For instance, incorporate audiobooks, e-books, and large-print editions to accommodate varying reading preferences and abilities.
• Collaborative Learning : Encourage a culture of collaboration and interaction among readers. Facilitate discussions, book clubs, and group activities to create a community around literature.

By making deliberate choices regarding engaging stories and creating a conducive environment, we can make literature more accessible to students and readers of all backgrounds and interests.

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What Makes A Story Interesting?

Want to learn about what it is that makes a story interesting? Here you'll learn how to keep your audience captivated.

Writing an interesting story isn’t as easy as you might think! No matter how good your initial idea, the art of storytelling has many parts and if you want to ensure your story captures and captivates your audience, there are certain things that you must include.

So what are the elements that make a good story? Let’s take a look.

What makes a story interesting? Our top tips!

Drama and action.

Every good story must be full of drama. Drama is what brings stories to life and stops them from being dull and uninteresting. Things need to happen in your story, it needs engaging action that moves forwards and takes the readers on an exciting journey where they are always excited to see what happens next. 

Familiarity and resonance

People must be able to resonate with your story. Even it is otherworldly and about things they have never experienced before, clever storytelling can evoke a certain sense of familiarity and can help to draw the reader in, to make them feel closer to the characters and the world you have created too.

Simplicity and clarity

Simple stories are often the best kind of stories. There is often an urge from authors to create unnecessary complications that lead to the story being overwritten and confusing. Strip your story, think about how to simplify sentences, be clear and direct and get to the heart of the story right away. 

Immersion and emotion

Readers want to be able to get lost in your story and fully immerse themselves in the world which you have created. You should also aim to evoke emotion and drive your readers to engage with the story on an emotional level. 

Meaningful and relatable

Your story needs to be relatable otherwise the readers will have trouble achieving many of the above points. Make your characters relatable so that readers can feel empathetic towards them. Your story also needs to have some meaning. Without meaning, you may wish to ask yourself, why am I writing this story? What is the point in it? If you can’t clearly state the meaning of your story, you might wish to rethink the plot.

If you can include all the above elements in your book, you are more than likely to have a pretty awesome story on your hands. So next time you have an idea for a story, ask yourself if it includes all of these things, and if it does, get writing pronto!

Now you know what makes a story interesting, why not learn about how to get inside your characters' heads?

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105 Creative Writing Exercises To Get You Writing Again

You know that feeling when you just don’t feel like writing? Sometimes you can’t even get a word down on paper. It’s the most frustrating thing ever to a writer, especially when you’re working towards a deadline. The good news is that we have a list of 105 creative writing exercises to help you get motivated and start writing again!

What are creative writing exercises?

Creative writing exercises are short writing activities (normally around 10 minutes) designed to get you writing. The goal of these exercises is to give you the motivation to put words onto a blank paper. These words don’t need to be logical or meaningful, neither do they need to be grammatically correct or spelt correctly. The whole idea is to just get you writing something, anything. The end result of these quick creative writing exercises is normally a series of notes, bullet points or ramblings that you can, later on, use as inspiration for a bigger piece of writing such as a story or a poem. 

Good creative writing exercises are short, quick and easy to complete. You shouldn’t need to think too much about your style of writing or how imaginative your notes are. Just write anything that comes to mind, and you’ll be on the road to improving your creative writing skills and beating writer’s block . 

Use the generator below to get a random creative writing exercise idea:

List of 105+ Creative Writing Exercises

Here are over 105 creative writing exercises to give your brain a workout and help those creative juices flow again:

• Set a timer for 60 seconds. Now write down as many words or phrases that come to mind at that moment.
• Pick any colour you like. Now start your sentence with this colour. For example, Orange, the colour of my favourite top. 
• Open a book or dictionary on a random page. Pick a random word. You can close your eyes and slowly move your finger across the page. Now, write a paragraph with this random word in it. You can even use an online dictionary to get random words:

• Create your own alphabet picture book or list. It can be A to Z of animals, food, monsters or anything else you like!
• Using only the sense of smell, describe where you are right now.
• Take a snack break. While eating your snack write down the exact taste of that food. The goal of this creative writing exercise is to make your readers savour this food as well.
• Pick a random object in your room and write a short paragraph from its point of view. For example, how does your pencil feel? What if your lamp had feelings?
• Describe your dream house. Where would you live one day? Is it huge or tiny? 
• Pick two different TV shows, movies or books that you like. Now swap the main character. What if Supergirl was in Twilight? What if SpongeBob SquarePants was in The Flash? Write a short scene using this character swap as inspiration.
• What’s your favourite video game? Write at least 10 tips for playing this game.
• Pick your favourite hobby or sport. Now pretend an alien has just landed on Earth and you need to teach it this hobby or sport. Write at least ten tips on how you would teach this alien.
• Use a random image generator and write a paragraph about the first picture you see.

• Write a letter to your favourite celebrity or character. What inspires you most about them? Can you think of a memorable moment where this person’s life affected yours? We have this helpful guide on writing a letter to your best friend for extra inspiration.
• Write down at least 10 benefits of writing. This can help motivate you and beat writer’s block.
• Complete this sentence in 10 different ways: Patrick waited for the school bus and…
• Pick up a random book from your bookshelf and go to page 9. Find the ninth sentence on that page. Use this sentence as a story starter.
• Create a character profile based on all the traits that you hate. It might help to list down all the traits first and then work on describing the character.
• What is the scariest or most dangerous situation you have ever been in? Why was this situation scary? How did you cope at that moment?
• Pretend that you’re a chat show host and you’re interviewing your favourite celebrity. Write down the script for this conversation.
• Using extreme detail, write down what you have been doing for the past one hour today. Think about your thoughts, feelings and actions during this time.
• Make a list of potential character names for your next story. You can use a fantasy name generator to help you.
• Describe a futuristic setting. What do you think the world would look like in 100 years time?
• Think about a recent argument you had with someone. Would you change anything about it? How would you resolve an argument in the future?
• Describe a fantasy world. What kind of creatures live in this world? What is the climate like? What everyday challenges would a typical citizen of this world face? You can use this fantasy world name generator for inspiration.
• At the flip of a switch, you turn into a dragon. What kind of dragon would you be? Describe your appearance, special abilities, likes and dislikes. You can use a dragon name generator to give yourself a cool dragon name.
• Pick your favourite book or a famous story. Now change the point of view. For example, you could rewrite the fairytale , Cinderella. This time around, Prince Charming could be the main character. What do you think Prince Charming was doing, while Cinderella was cleaning the floors and getting ready for the ball?
• Pick a random writing prompt and use it to write a short story. Check out this collection of over 300 writing prompts for kids to inspire you. 
• Write a shopping list for a famous character in history. Imagine if you were Albert Einstein’s assistant, what kind of things would he shop for on a weekly basis?
• Create a fake advertisement poster for a random object that is near you right now. Your goal is to convince the reader to buy this object from you.
• What is the worst (or most annoying) sound that you can imagine? Describe this sound in great detail, so your reader can understand the pain you feel when hearing this sound.
• What is your favourite song at the moment? Pick one line from this song and describe a moment in your life that relates to this line.
•  You’re hosting an imaginary dinner party at your house. Create a list of people you would invite, and some party invites. Think about the theme of the dinner party, the food you will serve and entertainment for the evening. 
• You are waiting to see your dentist in the waiting room. Write down every thought you are having at this moment in time. 
• Make a list of your greatest fears. Try to think of at least three fears. Now write a short story about a character who is forced to confront one of these fears. 
• Create a ‘Wanted’ poster for a famous villain of your choice. Think about the crimes they have committed, and the reward you will give for having them caught. 
• Imagine you are a journalist for the ‘Imagine Forest Times’ newspaper. Your task is to get an exclusive interview with the most famous villain of all time. Pick a villain of your choice and interview them for your newspaper article. What questions would you ask them, and what would their responses be?
•  In a school playground, you see the school bully hurting a new kid. Write three short stories, one from each perspective in this scenario (The bully, the witness and the kid getting bullied).
• You just won $10 million dollars. What would you spend this money on?
• Pick a random animal, and research at least five interesting facts about this animal. Write a short story centred around one of these interesting facts. 
• Pick a global issue that you are passionate about. This could be climate change, black lives matters, women’s rights etc. Now create a campaign poster for this global issue. 
• Write an acrostic poem about an object near you right now (or even your own name). You could use a poetry idea generator to inspire you.
• Imagine you are the head chef of a 5-star restaurant. Recently the business has slowed down. Your task is to come up with a brand-new menu to excite customers. Watch this video prompt on YouTube to inspire you.
• What is your favourite food of all time? Imagine if this piece of food was alive, what would it say to you?
• If life was one big musical, what would you be singing about right now? Write the lyrics of your song. 
• Create and describe the most ultimate villain of all time. What would their traits be? What would their past look like? Will they have any positive traits?
• Complete this sentence in at least 10 different ways: Every time I look out of the window, I…
• You have just made it into the local newspaper, but what for? Write down at least five potential newspaper headlines . Here’s an example, Local Boy Survives a Deadly Illness.
• If you were a witch or a wizard, what would your specialist area be and why? You might want to use a Harry Potter name generator or a witch name generator for inspiration.
• What is your favourite thing to do on a Saturday night? Write a short story centred around this activity. 
• Your main character has just received the following items: A highlighter, a red cap, a teddy bear and a fork. What would your character do with these items? Can you write a story using these items? 
• Create a timeline of your own life, from birth to this current moment. Think about the key events in your life, such as birthdays, graduations, weddings and so on. After you have done this, you can pick one key event from your life to write a story about. 
• Think of a famous book or movie you like. Rewrite a scene from this book or movie, where the main character is an outsider. They watch the key events play out, but have no role in the story. What would their actions be? How would they react?
• Three very different characters have just won the lottery. Write a script for each character, as they reveal the big news to their best friend.  
• Write a day in the life story of three different characters. How does each character start their day? What do they do throughout the day? And how does their day end?
•  Write about the worst experience in your life so far. Think about a time when you were most upset or angry and describe it. 
• Imagine you’ve found a time machine in your house. What year would you travel to and why?
• Describe your own superhero. Think about their appearance, special abilities and their superhero name. Will they have a secret identity? Who is their number one enemy?
• What is your favourite country in the world? Research five fun facts about this country and use one to write a short story. 
• Set yourself at least three writing goals. This could be a good way to motivate yourself to write every day. For example, one goal might be to write at least 150 words a day. 
• Create a character description based on the one fact, three fiction rule. Think about one fact or truth about yourself. And then add in three fictional or fantasy elements. For example, your character could be the same age as you in real life, this is your one fact. And the three fictional elements could be they have the ability to fly, talk in over 100 different languages and have green skin. 
• Describe the perfect person. What traits would they have? Think about their appearance, their interests and their dislikes. 
• Keep a daily journal or diary. This is a great way to keep writing every day. There are lots of things you can write about in your journal, such as you can write about the ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ of your day. Think about anything that inspired you or anything that upset you, or just write anything that comes to mind at the moment. 
• Write a book review or a movie review. If you’re lost for inspiration, just watch a random movie or read any book that you can find. Then write a critical review on it. Think about the best parts of the book/movie and the worst parts. How would you improve the book or movie?
• Write down a conversation between yourself. You can imagine talking to your younger self or future self (i.e. in 10 years’ time). What would you tell them? Are there any lessons you learned or warnings you need to give? Maybe you could talk about what your life is like now and compare it to their life?
• Try writing some quick flash fiction stories . Flash fiction is normally around 500 words long, so try to stay within this limit.
• Write a six-word story about something that happened to you today or yesterday. A six-word story is basically an entire story told in just six words. Take for example: “Another football game ruined by me.” or “A dog’s painting sold for millions.” – Six-word stories are similar to writing newspaper headlines. The goal is to summarise your story in just six words. 
• The most common monsters or creatures used in stories include vampires, werewolves , dragons, the bigfoot, sirens and the loch-ness monster. In a battle of intelligence, who do you think will win and why?
• Think about an important event in your life that has happened so far, such as a birthday or the birth of a new sibling. Now using the 5 W’s and 1 H technique describe this event in great detail. The 5 W’s include: What, Who, Where, Why, When and the 1 H is: How. Ask yourself questions about the event, such as what exactly happened on that day? Who was there? Why was this event important? When and where did it happen? And finally, how did it make you feel?
• Pretend to be someone else. Think about someone important in your life. Now put yourself into their shoes, and write a day in the life story about being them. What do you think they do on a daily basis? What situations would they encounter? How would they feel?
• Complete this sentence in at least 10 different ways: I remember…
• Write about your dream holiday. Where would you go? Who would you go with? And what kind of activities would you do?
• Which one item in your house do you use the most? Is it the television, computer, mobile phone, the sofa or the microwave? Now write a story of how this item was invented. You might want to do some research online and use these ideas to build up your story. 
• In exactly 100 words, describe your bedroom. Try not to go over or under this word limit.
• Make a top ten list of your favourite animals. Based on this list create your own animal fact file, where you provide fun facts about each animal in your list.
• What is your favourite scene from a book or a movie? Write down this scene. Now rewrite the scene in a different genre, such as horror, comedy, drama etc.
•  Change the main character of a story you recently read into a villain. For example, you could take a popular fairytale such as Jack and the Beanstalk, but this time re-write the story to make Jack the villain of the tale.
• Complete the following sentence in at least 10 different ways: Do you ever wonder…
• What does your name mean? Research the meaning of your own name, or a name that interests you. Then use this as inspiration for your next story. For example, the name ‘Marty’ means “Servant Of Mars, God Of War”. This could make a good concept for a sci-fi story.
• Make a list of three different types of heroes (or main characters) for potential future stories.
• If someone gave you $10 dollars, what would you spend it on and why?
• Describe the world’s most boring character in at least 100 words. 
• What is the biggest problem in the world today, and how can you help fix this issue?
• Create your own travel brochure for your hometown. Think about why tourists might want to visit your hometown. What is your town’s history? What kind of activities can you do? You could even research some interesting facts. 
• Make a list of all your favourite moments or memories in your life. Now pick one to write a short story about.
• Describe the scariest and ugliest monster you can imagine. You could even draw a picture of this monster with your description.
• Write seven haikus, one for each colour of the rainbow. That’s red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. 
• Imagine you are at the supermarket. Write down at least three funny scenarios that could happen to you at the supermarket. Use one for your next short story. 
• Imagine your main character is at home staring at a photograph. Write the saddest scene possible. Your goal is to make your reader cry when reading this scene. 
• What is happiness? In at least 150 words describe the feeling of happiness. You could use examples from your own life of when you felt happy.
• Think of a recent nightmare you had and write down everything you can remember. Use this nightmare as inspiration for your next story.
• Keep a dream journal. Every time you wake up in the middle of the night or early in the morning you can quickly jot down things that you remember from your dreams. These notes can then be used as inspiration for a short story. 
• Your main character is having a really bad day. Describe this bad day and the series of events they experience. What’s the worst thing that could happen to your character?
• You find a box on your doorstep. You open this box and see the most amazing thing ever. Describe this amazing thing to your readers.
• Make a list of at least five possible settings or locations for future stories. Remember to describe each setting in detail.
• Think of something new you recently learned. Write this down. Now write a short story where your main character also learns the same thing.
• Describe the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen in your whole life. Your goal is to amaze your readers with its beauty. 
• Make a list of things that make you happy or cheer you up. Try to think of at least five ideas. Now imagine living in a world where all these things were banned or against the law. Use this as inspiration for your next story.
• Would you rather be rich and alone or poor and very popular? Write a story based on the lives of these two characters. 
• Imagine your main character is a Librarian. Write down at least three dark secrets they might have. Remember, the best secrets are always unexpected.
• There’s a history behind everything. Describe the history of your house. How and when was your house built? Think about the land it was built on and the people that may have lived here long before you.
• Imagine that you are the king or queen of a beautiful kingdom. Describe your kingdom in great detail. What kind of rules would you have? Would you be a kind ruler or an evil ruler of the kingdom?
• Make a wish list of at least three objects you wish you owned right now. Now use these three items in your next story. At least one of them must be the main prop in the story.
• Using nothing but the sense of taste, describe a nice Sunday afternoon at your house. Remember you can’t use your other senses (i.e see, hear, smell or touch) in this description. 
• What’s the worst pain you felt in your life? Describe this pain in great detail, so your readers can also feel it.
• If you were lost on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere, what three must-have things would you pack and why?
• Particpate in online writing challenges or contests. Here at Imagine Forest, we offer daily writing challenges with a new prompt added every day to inspire you. Check out our challenges section in the menu.

Do you have any more fun creative writing exercises to share? Let us know in the comments below!

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

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70 Picture Prompts for Creative Writing (with Free Slides)

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Visual writing prompts help young writers generate new ideas and overcome writer’s block. We’ve put together 70 picture prompts for creative writing that you can use for morning work or in your writing centers or lesson plans to get your students’ creative juices flowing.

The Benefits of Using Visual Writing Prompts

Writers of all ages and experience levels can get stuck thinking about what to write. Writer’s block is not just a challenge for reluctant writers. Even professional writers have days when they feel less than inspired.

Visual prompts can result in a vast array of story ideas. A single image viewed by ten writers will result in ten completely different short stories. Even if you use verbal cues to get students thinking about the picture, each student will still write a unique response to the image.

Visual creative writing prompts are fantastic for elementary school because younger students often relate more to a pictorial prompt than a written one, but don’t shy away from using these with high school and middle school students as well. Pictures make a fun alternative to your typical writing prompts and story starters and can help shake up your regular English language arts routine.

How to Use Picture Prompts for Creative Writing

There’s no limit to the ways you can use writing prompts. Here are some of our favorite ways to incorporate image prompts into your weekly lesson plans .

• Writing Center. Print cards or writing pages with these images on them and put them in a writing center for your students to discover at their own pace.
• Specific Skills. Use story picture prompts to help kids work on specific writing skills. For example, you could work on descriptive writing by having them describe the setting of the picture in detail, character development by having them make up a history for a person (or animal) in the picture, or narrative writing by having them make up a story based on the picture.
• Warm-up Activity: Download the slides that accompany this post and project an image on a screen or whiteboard for the first fifteen minutes of class and have students work on a short story as soon as they enter. This helps jumpstart the creative process before you move into your regular writing program.
• Independent Work: If you need a fun activity for kids to do when they’ve completed their assignment and are waiting for other students’ to finish, keep a supply of these images on hand and challenge them to write flash fiction of 250 words or less while they wait.
• Sub binders: Want to have some easy, no-prep projects on hand for those days when you’re unexpectedly away? Elementary picture writing prompts are perfect for substitute teachers to do with your students in your absence.
• Distance learning: If you are working with students whom you don’t see face-to-face, picture writing prompts are a great way to inspire them. You can use them in a virtual lesson to kickstart a discussion on brainstorming story ideas or post a few of these images to your learning management system and let students select the one they want to write about.

No matter how you decide to use them—whether at home or in the classroom—photographic writing prompts are a great way to cultivate a daily writing habit and encourage kids to explore new topics.

Picture Writing Prompts for Kids

We’ve selected 70 of the most interesting pictures we could find for this exercise. When choosing photos for writing prompts, we look for high-quality photos with intriguing subject matter, but we try to go beyond that. We want to share images that suggest a story, that make the viewer ask questions and wonder why things are the way they are.

We want to feel propelled to explore questions like, What happened before the photo that led to this moment? What are we witnessing in this photo? What’s about to happen?

A photo doesn’t make much of a story starter if it doesn’t suggest that there might be a bigger picture lurking beneath the surface.

We hope you and your students love these picture prompts for creative writing as much as we do. If you love them, go ahead and fill out the form below to grab your own copy.

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We’ve included a couple of questions with each picture that you could use to spark pre-writing conversations in your classroom, which can be helpful when working with younger students who might need a little more direction.

Bear in mind though that some kids really struggle with these types of questions that ask them to make inferences about details that they can’t possibly know the ‘answer’ to. When you ask them things like, “What was the author probably trying to do?” they have no idea and won’t dare to hazard a guess. If you are working with kids who feel paralyzed by these questions, now is not the time to push them. Ignore the questions completely and have them simply focus on the picture.

It could be a good idea to write a few short stories yourself based on a single picture to show demonstrate how there are no wrong answers in this exercise—only endless possibilities.

70 Picture for Story Writing with Guiding Questions

• Whose cat is this? What is he looking at? Where is he?

2. What is the owl thinking about? Is he alone? What does he hope to eat for dinner?

3. Who are these frogs? What is their relationship with each other? Why are they taking photos?

4. How did the dog get a phone? Why is he taking selfies? What is he doing with the pictures he takes?

5. This cat doesn’t look too happy. What’s bugging him? Did he get too many phone calls or is he waiting on an important call that’s taking too long to come?

6. What do these chicks think of the dog? What does the dog think of the chicks? Do you think they can communicate with each other? If so, what would they say?

7. Where do these lemurs live? What are they looking at? What is something unusual that might happen to them?

8. What is this fox doing? Is he yawning and stretching or is he trying to scare someone away? What kind of mischief does he like to get up to?

9. Is this wolf alone? If not, who is with him? What is he planning to do? Does he have a family to feed or protect?

10. What is this child doing on the laptop? Can he actually read and type or is he just playing? If he can read and type, how did he learn that at such a young age? What other cool things can he do?

11. Where is this woman? Is she lost? How did she get to this street? What interesting things might she discover as she explores this new city?

12. Why is the dog wearing glasses? Can he see through them? What are he and the girl doing? How does he feel about it?

13. Who are these two little boys? What is their relationship with each other? What is the teddy bear’s story?

14. Who are these children? Why are they running? Is it a race or are they playing a game? Who’s going to win?

15. Whose horse is this? Does the little boy own it or does he just visit it? Can the horse talk? How does the boy feel when he’s with the horse?

16. What is this boy reading? Does the book have a magical power? Does the boy? Do the stories in the book become real or does something else special happen?

17. Where is this man? How did he get there? What is he looking for?

18. Who is walking over the bridge? What’s on the other side? Is it worth the risk?

19. What are these people doing on the elephant? Where are they? Are they tourists or is the elephant their pet? What would life with an elephant be like?

20. Who made this map? It looks old. Has it been hidden away for a long time? Who discovered it and how? What does it lead to?

21. Whose typewriter is this? What important or secretive thing might they be working on? What could happen if the wrong person finds their work?

22. Who are these three stuffed animals? Are they living? What is their story?

23. Whose ukulele is this? Why did they leave it here? Who might find it?

24. Where is the owner of the bike? Where does this path lead? What if the bike’s not there when the owner returns?

25. Whose shoes are these? Why did they leave them here? Why are they so dirty?

26. Who was reading the newspaper? What was the most interesting thing they read? Where have they disappeared to?

27. Who put this sign on the old truck? What do you think of it? How did the truck end up in its current condition and location?

28. Who set the table? Who are they expecting? What special occasion are they celebrating? What could go wrong?

29. Whose birthday cake is this? Are they having a party? Who is there? Who did they want to have there that didn’t show up?

30. Who lives here? How do they access their home? What is their life like?

31. Who built the igloo? Where is it? How does it feel to spend the night inside it?

32. What is the history of this castle? Who lives in it now? Does it have any special or magical features?

33. Is this barn abandoned or do people live on the property? What kind of animals might live here? How do they keep themselves entertained?

34. What is it like living on a houseboat? What kind of community do you think forms among the neighbors? Imagine you live on one of these boats and think about how your daily life might change. What interesting things could you do if you lived here? What would you miss the most?

35. Where is this hut? Who lives here? What mystery might unfold if a stranger came knocking at their door?

36. What is this lighthouse called? Who runs it? How often do they leave? What is the most memorable experience they’ve had as a lighthouse operator?

37. How did this house get here? Does anyone live in it? What would life be like here?

38. Where is this festive street? Are the people there celebrating something? Where is everybody?

39. Who lives here? How did they build this house? Are they hiding from something? What does it look like inside?

40. Whose notebook is this? Why did they leave it here? What’s written in it and how might it change the life of the person who finds it?

41. What are these women doing? What are they supposed to be doing? Will they be in trouble if they get caught?

42. Who might be represented in this statue? Why is she being pulled by lions? What amazing things might she have done to deserve a statue in this prominent place?

43. Where is this? Who is riding in the hot air balloons? Where are they going and why?

44. How old is this large tree? Where is it? What are some of the most fascinating stories it could tell?

45. Where is this carousel? Who is riding it? Can you think of a special or strange story about how it came to exist in this particular place?

46. What are these people thinking about? What’s at stake for them? What happens if one of them sneezes?

47. Where are these penguins? What are they talking about? Which one of them is the leader?

48. What is this place? Was it designed to be open like this or was it once part of someone’s home or a public building? How have people’s opinions of this place changed over time?

49. Who are these kids? Is this what they’re supposed to be doing? What happens when their teacher sees them?

50. Who is supposed to ride in this boat? Where are they going? Will they make it there?

51. Is this plane special to someone? What did they have to do to get it/build it? Where will they fly to in it?

52. Who decorated this train car? Which passengers will fill it up? What will they talk about?

53. Whose skis are these? Why are they sticking out of the snow? How did their owner get down the mountain without them?

54. Where does this gondola go? Who rides it? How does it feel to ride it?

55. Who’s driving the monster truck? Why is it at the beach? What is it going to crush? Who is watching?

56. Where is the boat going? Who is on it? What is their mission?

57. What city is the helicopter flying over? Why? Is the driver looking for something specific or do they have a special delivery?

58. What’s the little boy doing in the boat? Is he alone or is someone with him? Where is he trying to go?

59. Who is in the sub? What’s it like inside? What are they doing?

60. Whose book is this? What’s it about? What’s happening to it?

61. How did that piece of land with the house on it break off from the rest of the world? Why? Where is it going? Is anyone in the house?

62. Who is this girl? Where is she? Who is she shooting at?

63. Where does this scene take place? Is the lizard/dragon good or bad? What is its relationship with the girl?

64. What do these books represent? What kind of world is this? What (or who) is inside the books?

65. What are these dinosaurs discussing? Where are they? What do they do for fun?

66. Whose cottage is this? Do they still live there? If not, where have they gone? If so, what do they do there?

67. What is the moth thinking about? Is it alone? What’s the biggest challenge it faces in this moment?

68. Who is the owl looking at? Has it read these books? What is its greatest talent?

69. Where are these trees? Why are they pink? Do they have any special powers or features?

70. What are these best friends thinking about? Do they have something to hide? What adventures do they go on together?

What do you think? Which kind of pictures do you like best for creative writing prompts ? Let us know in the comments.

Thursday 9th of May 2024

I love this website because I was using it with my kindergartners and it work so so so well!!!!

Monday 20th of May 2024

That's wonderful. Thanks for sharing!

Tuesday 5th of March 2024

I LOVE these! My daughter has always struggled with written story prompts and an internet search this week convinced me of the value of picture prompts for reluctant readers/writers (https://youcanjournal.com/journal-picture-prompts/ if you're interested!). I'll definitely be using these to help improve her writing skills. Thanks so much!

Tuesday 26th of December 2023

I think the idea of using picture prompts is a great idea. It initiates oral language thus building vocabulary. It allows lends itself to students working in small groups to stimulate new ideas. The prompts engage the students and gives the teacher the opportunity to focus on specific writing skills.

luke elford

Wednesday 13th of December 2023

cloey mckay

Tuesday 17th of October 2023

I tried this with myself and my 6th-grade students, and they love it. it gives room for so much creativity.

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This Reading Mama

25 Ways to Make Writing Fun

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For many learners, writing is their least favorite subject. Today, I’m sharing 25 of my favorite ways to make writing fun {yes, and even a little handwriting fun is mixed in, too}.

*This post contains affiliate links.

25 Ways to Make Writing FUN!

1- Read rich literature of all genres to your child. Talk about how the author used this “fancy” word instead of a “boring” word. Point out the climax of the story and how the author resolved the problem. Help your child see that they can piggyback on or use these ideas in their own writing.

2- Give them the freedom to just write/draw without over-correcting spellings, letter formation, etc. There will be times when these things are important and need to be corrected, but sometimes kids just need a “judgment-free” zone.

3- Let them write about things that interest them. So what if he just wrote his 5th book on playing soccer? At least he’s writing! If his written works all start sounding the same, suggest that he write about the rules of soccer, how his team won their last game, or even a soccer poem.

4- Provide resources, such as a  sight word folder , a book you’ve just read together, labels around your house, sight word cards, or a kids’ spelling dictionary . You can find TONS of fun and hands-on spelling ideas and resources right here on my blog!

5- Write for authentic purposes (letters, thank you cards , pen pals, a grocery list, etc.). And while they’re writing those letters, it’s the perfect time to teach them the conventions .

6- Allow them to use invented spelling  in a developmentally appropriate way. {The key to this is to hold them accountable for what they know.}

7- Not every misspelling or incorrect convention has to become a “teachable moment” or mini lesson. Sometimes kids just want someone to encourage their creativity, not nit-pick their every mistake. Ouch.

8- Treat them as a “real” author by putting the books they’ve written on the bookshelf to be read, right along with all your other books. One of the goals of Preschool & Kindergarten Writing Lessons as well as Simple Writing Lessons for Primary Grades was to give you practical lessons for teaching writing in this manner.

The Measured Mom’s Writing Workshop Pack is also a fantastic resource for the classroom OR at home!

If you’re looking for a full-blown writing curriculum that teaches writing this way, check out WriteShop !

9- Give them an audience for their writing. Find ways for them to share what they’ve written . Often times writers are frustrated because they do not have someone to write TO. Kids need an audience. A reader. Someone who will respond to their creation, ask questions, or comment. Give them feedback.

That audience or reader can make writing more authentic and much more meaningful to young writers. This is why I think letters to others are a great tool. There’s a built-in audience just by nature of writing a letter.

10- Don’t overuse it! Kids don’t need to write a summary, fill out a worksheet, or answer questions in a Reading Response Journal every time they’ve read a text. These things are good things in moderation, but sometimes a simple discussion between the two of you will suffice. This is true for every child, but especially struggling readers .

11-   Organize your home for writing or provide some fun writing manipulatives {see the list of fun writing tools below}

12- Create a writer’s toolbox for your child. This makes for a GREAT birthday present!

13- Provide writing prompts {with limits}. I’m not a huge advocate of writing prompts, but I think creative writing prompts can spark an idea sometimes. If you’re looking for some creative prompts for K-2nd grades, I have some for every month of the year .

Make Writing Fun with Writing Tools

These are some of our tried and true writing tools. We have had most of these in our home for 10+ years and they’re still going strong!

By the way, all of these make GREAT gifts for kids !

16-   Aqua Doodle {mess free}

17-   Crayola Wonder {mess free}

20- bathtub crayons

21- Crayola makes awesome markers and crayons for glass surfaces {we’ve used ours on the windows in the house as well as mirrors}.

22- dry erase boards and markers – you can buy some or make your own with shower boards {found at your local hardware store}, Crayola makes washable dry erase markers

23- highlighters – kids of all ages {even 5th graders} like to use highlighters!

24-  Work mazes and puzzles. We took our Puzzle Buzz Magazine, pulled them apart, and made a puzzle/maze book that young kiddos have enjoyed over and over again. Just slip the pages into plastic sleeve protectors , place in a notebook , and use dry erase marker . So easy!

25-  Use a simple writing “desk”. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our collapsible lap desks . Each of my kiddos has one. They are sturdy, have storage inside, and fold up to store easily. Plus we can take writing anywhere because it travels well!

 What are some of your favorite ways to make writing fun? Share your ideas in the comments!

*First image from Adobe Stock . *Font by KG Fonts .

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25 Ways to Earn Extra Cash From Home

Posted: May 30, 2024 | Last updated: May 30, 2024

Are you looking for some easy and fun ways to make extra money from the comfort of your home? You’re in the right place!

Whether you’re saving up for a big purchase, paying off debt, or just wanting some extra spending money, there are plenty of options.

From selling handmade crafts to taking online surveys, there’s something for everyone.

This blog will explore 25 simple and creative ideas to boost your income without leaving your house.

1. Freelance Writing

Freelance writing is all about creating content for clients, like blog posts, articles, or web copy. You can find these jobs on websites like Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer.

Sign up, create a profile, and apply for gigs matching your skills. It’s a great way to get paid for writing while working from home and setting your schedule.

2. Virtual Assistant

As a virtual assistant, you’ll help businesses and individuals with email management, scheduling, and data entry tasks. You can find these jobs on sites like Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer, and other freelance websites.

You can also approach clients directly through social media or LinkedIn or create your website to attract clients.

Just create a profile, highlight your skills, and start applying. You can work from home and manage your time, making it flexible and convenient.

3. Online Tutoring

Online tutoring involves teaching students over the internet, covering subjects you’re good at. You can find these jobs on platforms like Tutor.com, or you can use Zoom calls or other video conferencing tools to connect with students.

Knowing about a specific subject can be a great way to earn extra money while sharing your knowledge with others. Plus, you get to do it from the comfort of your home!

4. Selling Handmade Crafts on Etsy

Selling handmade crafts on Etsy is perfect for creative folks! You can create unique items like jewelry, art, or home decor and list them on Etsy.

Set up a shop, take good photos, and write catchy descriptions. It’s a fun way to turn your hobbies into cash. You can share your creations with the world and make money from home!

5. Taking Online Surveys

Taking online surveys is an easy way to earn extra cash. Companies pay for your opinions on products and services. You can find these opportunities on sites like Swagbucks, Survey Junkie, and InboxDollars.

Simply sign up, fill out surveys, and get paid. It’s a fun way to make money in your spare time while sharing your thoughts from the comfort of your home.

However, be aware of scam sites and always read reviews before signing up for a survey. If they ask you to pay money, just stay away from them.

6. Data Entry

Data entry involves typing information into spreadsheets, databases, or other systems. It’s a straightforward job that anyone can do with basic computer skills.

You can find data entry gigs on Upwork, Freelancer, and FlexJobs. Just sign up, create a profile, and start applying. It’s a great way to make money from home while keeping things simple and organized.

7. Graphic Design

Graphic design is about creating visuals like logos, flyers, and social media graphics. If you’re good with design tools like Photoshop or Canva, this is for you! Find jobs on websites like Upwork, 99designs, and Fiverr.

Create a profile, showcase your work, and apply for gigs. It’s fun to turn creativity into cash while working from anywhere.

8. Social Media Management

Social media management involves handling a company’s accounts by posting content, responding to comments, and growing followers. If you love social media, this could be your dream job!

Look for these gigs on freelance websites or social media websites. Create a profile, highlight your skills, and apply. It’s a creative way to turn your scrolling habit into a paycheck!

9. Blogging

Blogging is writing about topics you love and sharing your insights online. You can start your blog using platforms like WordPress or Blogger. You must buy your domain, but it’s worth the investment if you love to write.

But if you are tight on budget, you can go with a blogger’s free sub-domain or write for other blogs as a guest blogger and get paid.

10. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing involves promoting products online and earning a commission for each sale through your unique link. You can join affiliate programs on sites like Amazon Associates, ShareASale, and ClickBank. 

Share the links on your blog, social media, or website. It’s easy to make money by recommending products you love to others.

11. Selling Items on eBay

Selling items on eBay is all about turning your unwanted stuff into cash. Just snap some photos, list your items with descriptions and prices, and watch the bids roll in!

You can sell almost anything—clothes, electronics, collectibles.

Simply sign up on eBay, create listings, and start selling. It’s a fun way to declutter and make money from home.

12. Dropshipping

Dropshipping is a unique business model where you don’t have to hold inventory, pack, or ship products. Instead, you partner with a supplier who handles the fulfillment process while you handle the sales and marketing.

Selling on platforms like eBay or Shopify is a great way to make money online without having to invest in inventory upfront. You can sell anything from clothing to electronics.

13. Transcription Services

Transcription services involve listening to audio recordings and typing them out. If you’re a good listener and fast typist, this might be for you! You can find transcription jobs on freelance websites.

Just sign up, take a test, and start working. It’s an easy way to make money while sharpening your listening and typing skills.

14. Creating and Selling Online Courses

Creating and selling online courses means sharing your knowledge through videos and tutorials. If you’re an expert in something, you can teach others!

Use platforms like Udemy, Teachable, or Skillshare to host your courses. Just record your lessons, upload them, and start selling. It’s a great way to help others learn and earn money from your skills.

15. Website Testing

Website testing involves checking websites for bugs and giving feedback on their usability. If you enjoy exploring new sites, this is perfect for you!

Sign up on platforms like UserTesting, Testbirds, or TryMyUI. You’ll visit websites, complete tasks, and share your thoughts.

It’s a fun way to help improve websites while making extra cash. Get paid for your opinions!

16. Remote Customer Service

This is a very famous work-from-home job. Remote customer service involves providing customer support and assistance through phone, email, or chat from the comfort of your home.

You can find these jobs on company websites or freelancing platforms like Upwork. It’s a great way to make money while helping others with inquiries and concerns.

17. Proofreading and Editing

Proofreading and editing involve checking written content for errors and improving its quality.

If you have a keen eye for detail and love correcting mistakes, this job is for you! Find gigs on sites like Fiverr, Upwork, or Freelancer.

Just read through texts, fix typos, and enhance the writing. It’s a satisfying way to help others and make money with your language skills.

18. Language Translation

If you know multiple languages, offering translation services is a great way to make money.

You can find clients on freelancing websites or contact businesses or individuals who need documents, websites, or videos translated.

Make sure to have a portfolio or samples of your work to showcase your skills and attract potential clients.

19. Stock Photography

Stock photography involves taking high-quality photos and selling them online. If you love snapping pictures, upload your best shots to sites like Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, or iStock.

When someone buys your photo for their project, you earn money! It’s a fun way to turn your photography hobby into a profitable venture. Start capturing and cashing in on your creativity!

20. Podcasting

Podcasting is about creating audio shows on topics you love. Record episodes, edit them, and share your podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Anchor.

With interesting content, you can grow an audience and make money through ads and sponsorships. It’s fun to share your voice, connect with others, and potentially earn from your passion.

21. Print on Demand

Print on demand involves creating designs for products like t-shirts, mugs, and phone cases that are only printed when someone orders them. If you enjoy designing, use sites like Teespring, Redbubble, or Printful.

Just upload your designs, and they handle the printing and shipping. It’s fun to make money from your creativity without worrying about inventory.

22. Video Editing

Video editing involves turning raw video footage into polished, engaging content. If you enjoy working with videos, use tools like Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro. You can find gigs on sites like Upwork, Fiverr, or Freelancer.

Just edit videos for clients, adding effects, music, and transitions. It’s a creative way to help others tell their stories while making money.

23. Online Coaching

Online coaching is about helping people achieve their goals through virtual sessions. Whether it’s fitness, life coaching, or business advice, you can offer your expertise via Zoom or Skype.

Sign up on platforms like Coach.me, Udemy, or Teachable to find clients. Share your knowledge, motivate others, and earn money from anywhere. It’s a rewarding way to make a difference while working online!

24. App Testing

Like website testing, app testing involves using apps and providing feedback to improve user experience. You can find gigs on platforms like UserTesting or TryMyUI.

If you enjoy trying new apps and sharing your thoughts, this is a fun way to make money while helping companies improve their products.

25. Renting Out a Room on Airbnb

One of the most popular ways to make money on the side is by renting out a spare room on Airbnb. Just create a listing, set your price, and welcome guests into your home.

Not only is it a great way to earn extra income, but you can also meet people worldwide and potentially make lifelong connections.

Plus, with the rise of remote work and digital nomads, there’s always a demand for affordable short-term rentals.

25 Ways to Make Money Online

So there you have it – these are the top 25 ways to make money online. Whether you’re looking for a side hustle or want to turn it into a full-time career, the digital world offers endless opportunities to earn income from anywhere in the world. So why not give one (or more!) of these ideas and try and see where it takes you?

19 Easy Ways to Make Money When You Are Broke

Being broke is tough, but guess what? There are actually easy ways to make some money even when your wallet feels empty. In this article, we’ll share 19 simple ideas for earning cash without needing a lot of start-up money or special skills.

10 Lucrative Side Hustles to Make Money in Just 5 Extra Hours a Day!

Are you looking for ways to make some extra money on the side to boost your income? With the current financial climate, it’s no wonder that more and more people are looking for ways to increase their income.

12 Easy Side Hustles You Can Start Today With Little Cash

Are you looking to make some extra cash but unsure where to start? You’re in the right place! This article is all about easy side hustles you can begin today with little to no investment. We’re talking about flexible, low-barrier-to-entry gigs that pad your wallet without draining your energy or time. Whether saving for a special occasion or trying to make ends meet, these 12 side hustles could be your ticket to financial freedom.

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