Writer’s Workshop Brainstorms

 

Picture Prompt

• Bring in an interesting picture from a magazine, photograph or print something from Flickr.

   

• Have enough for each teen to use their own.

   

• Use as a writing prompt.

   

Stream of Consciousness

• Have teens write for 2 minutes without stopping their pencil once.

   

• Don’t stop for spelling, grammar, punctuation, format, etc, just WRITE.

   

• See what gems they come up with and use them to start a story.

   

Continuous Story

• Have one teen write one line of a story or poem.

   

• Pass to the next teen, who will write the next line.

   

• Keep passing until everyone has written a line, the person who wrote the first line should also write the last line.

   

• Multiple stories can be passed at once to make it more fun for the people who are waiting.

   

• Read the story/poem aloud at the end; the stories are usually pretty funny.

   

Word Poetry

• Have teens make poems out of rearrangable words (Jen has a word document you can print and cut up if you don’t want to make your own).

   

• Let them add to the words if there is something they need that isn’t there.

   

Object Prompt

• Bring in funny shaped, unique, antique, or unrecognizable objects. 

   

• Place them in a box and have teens select them blindly.

   

• Have them write a brief description of the object (what it is called, what it’s used for, the history of the object, etc).

   

• The catch: they have to make something up.  Ex.  A hairbrush is not a hairbrush.  It is a secret weapon that activates different elemental beings like fairies and elves to do one’s biddings depending on which bristle is pushed.

   

• After they blindly choose, let them pick something on their own to write about.

   

Character Study/Alter-Ego

• Have teens create a character they have always wanted to be… this person could be popular, have super powers, excel at sports, be a famous musician, etc.

   

• Alternatively, have teens create a character they would NEVER want to be… ex. popular, a bank robber, a librarian, etc.

   

• Encourage them to write a detailed physical description, background, educational experience, family, etc for the character.

   

• They can even sketch a picture to go with their description if they are inspired to do so.

   

Zines

• Have the teens create a short zine.

   

• Everyone should make their own.

   

• Provide pens, pencils, and paper at a minimum, but it can be fun to provide collaging materials too (this will make the activity last much longer).

   

Here is a simple one piece of paper zine I found online… it makes a very small zine, but is quite easy to create. 

Cool Zine Site

Cut on the solid lines and fold on the dotted lines. Staple in the center. One staple is usually enough.

Some things to Keep in Mind:

• Teens will have different levels of comfort sharing their writing: always make sharing optional, but encouraged.
• Not all promps work for everyone... if something isn't working for your group, just move on.
• Play some ambient music in the background, or if they hate it, play something they like instead.  This will minimize talking and fill the quiet.
• Make it fun!  This activity should not feel like school... we want teens to learn that they can write for fun and not just for homework.