Story Bites Writing Prompts

Story Bite 32: Words On a Page

For many students who struggle to write, coming up with an idea—or even a sentence—feels like one of the biggest challenges. Often, writers are told to just get words on a page, and the rest will come. But what if your initial words look pitiful and nothing else comes? Bolstering your confidence is a crucial… Read more »

Story Bite 31: Mentor Books

As I always say at my school talks, mentor books are crucial for me as an author. I read widely, but these favorites always encourage me, teach me, or just lift my spirits when I’m struggling for inspiration. Mentor texts can be useful for writers of all ages, so I hope this story bite will… Read more »

Story Bite 30: To an Empty Page

I hope this writing tip is especially fun for students who struggle to get started on writing assignments. Imagine that you’re having trouble writing. Write an angry letter to your blank page. Let it all out! How do you feel about the writing assignment that you’re struggling with? Do you wish that you could find an… Read more »

Story Bite 29: Word Inspirations and Character Creations

This month’s writing tip involves taking a delightful (and perhaps unusual) word and creating a wholly original creature based on it. The word is crepuscular. This word is used to described an animal or another kind of creature that’s active in the twilight. Your task: Invent an animal (a monster, if you like) that represents this…. Read more »

Story Bite 28: Figurative Language

April is National Poetry Month, so here’s a writing tip that’s extremely useful in poetry as well as prose: figurative language. Start by picking an object, feeling, or scene. Right now, outside my window, it’s raining (and I mean serious rain). So I’m going to start with that. And with this simple statement: It’s raining…. Read more »

Story Bite 27: Shifting Perspective

My writing tip for this month is shifting perspective: describing something that might inspire a strong negative reaction in people with positive words. This can be a fun linguistic game, but also a chance to think of how we view things beyond our own initial perspective. In this exercise, we’re going to: Describe something disgusting… Read more »

Story Bite 24: Finding Your Beginning Through Touch

When students are having trouble with the beginning of a piece, they’re sometimes advised to think about what their character is feeling. Often, this means emotions. But the actual sense of touch can be effective too. This series of posts—Finding Your Beginning—offers tips for students on how to jump-start a scene through the senses. By… Read more »

Story Bite 23: Finding Your Beginning Through Smell

Students often struggle with the beginning of a piece of writing. (So do many published authors as well.)  This is the second series of posts—Finding Your Beginning—that offers tips for students on how to jump-start a scene through the senses. Using sensory elements can put the reader—and the writer—directly into a piece of writing. For… Read more »