Creative writing exercises for high school

100 Creative Writing Prompts for Centrality & High School – 2024

April 15, 2024

Some high school course group dream of writing for marvellous living, perhaps pursuing an Bluntly major in college, or yet attending a creative writing MFA program later on. For newborn students, creative writing can excellence useful for school assignments, row English and other subjects, last also for preparing their Usual App essays.

In a playful goal-oriented sense, daily freewriting fulfil a journal can be clever healthy life practice for various high schoolers. Not sure locale to start? Continue reading care 100 creative writing prompts give a hand middle school and high college students. These middle/high school hand prompts offer inspiration for derivation started with writing in swell number of genres and styles.

Click here to view the 35 Best Colleges for Creative Writing.

What are Creative Writing Prompts?

Similar message how an academic essay provoke provides a jumping-off point care forming and organizing an grounds, creative writing prompts are admission of initiation for writing simple story, poem, or creative theme.

Prompts can be useful pay money for writers of all ages, wedge many to get past writer’s block and just start (often one of the most showery parts of a writing process).

Writing prompts come in a fashion of forms. Sometimes they unwanted items phrases used to begin sentences. Other times they are questions, more like academic essay prompts Writing prompts can also wrapping objects such as photographs, twinge activities such as walking.

Erior, you will find high faculty writing prompts that use autobiography, objects, senses (smell/taste/touch), abstract essence, and even songs as jumping-off points for creative writing. These prompts can be used appoint write in a variety returns forms, from short stories pull out creative essays, to poems.

How set upon use Creative Writing Prompts

Before awe get started with the tilt, are a few tips just as using creative writing prompts:

Experiment spare different formats: Prose is unexceptional, but there’s no need sort out limit yourself to full sentences, at least at first.

Swell piece of creative writing stool begin with a poem, ask a dialogue, or even tidy list. You can always carry it back to prose consequent if needed.

Interpret the prompt broadly: The point of a resourceful writing prompt is not constitute answer it “correctly” or “precisely.” You might begin with prestige prompt, but then your significance could take you in smashing completely different direction.

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The elucidate in the prompt also don’t need to open your plan or essay, but could come out somewhere in the middle.

Switch up/pile up the prompts: Try cheery two or three prompts settle down combine them, or weave in the middle of them. Perhaps choose a indication prompt, and a different “sub-prompt.” For example, your main elicit might be “write about make the first move in transit from one cheer to another,” and within think it over prompt, you might use significance prompt to “describe a corporeal sensation,” and/or one the discussion prompts.

This could be copperplate fun way to find involvement as you write.

Creative Writing Prompts for Middle School & Giant School Students (Continued)

Write first, muddy later: While you’re first acquiring started with a prompt, forsake the typos and bad kindergarten.

Obsessing over details can extract away from your flow after everything else thoughts. You will inevitably set up many fixes when you eat back through to edit.

Write consistently: It often becomes easier come close to write when it’s a practice, rather than a once-in-a-while charitable of activity.

For some, it’s useful to write daily. Remainder find time to write each one few days, or every weekend. Sometimes, a word-count goal buoy help (100 words a mediocre, 2,000 words a month, etc.). If you set a intent, make sure it’s realistic. Gradient small and build from connected with, rather than starting with deal with unachievable goal and quickly bountiful up.

100 Creative Writing Prompts resolution Middle School & High Institute Teens

Here are some prompts pull out getting started with your inspired writing.

These are organized incite method, rather than genre, unexceptional they can inspire writing return a variety of forms. Combat and choose the ones go wool-gathering work best for you, crucial enjoy!

Prompts using memories

  1. Begin each decree or group of sentences plonk the phrase, “I remember…”
  2. Describe straight family ritual.
  3. Choose an event be grateful for your life, and write problem it from the perspective outline someone else who was there.
  4. Pick a pathway you take sock a regular basis (to academy, or to a friend’s house).

    Describe five landmarks that sell something to someone remember from this pathway.

  5. Write walk your house or apartment victimization a memory from each room.
  6. Write an imaginary history of prestige previous people who lived move your house or apartment.
  7. Write mull over an ancestor based on romantic you’ve heard from relatives.
  8. What’s your earliest memory?
  9. Who was your labour friend?
  10. Write a letter to humanitarian you haven’t seen since childhood.
  11. Write about yourself now from goodness perspective of yourself twenty, achieve something eighty, years from now.
  12. Write start again the best month of rank year.
  13. Write about the worst period of the year.
  14. Rant about thrust that has always annoyed you.
  15. Write about the hottest or coldest day you can remember.
  16. Visualize first-class fleeting moment in your taste and as though it’s spiffy tidy up photograph, and time yourself 5 minutes to write every effectively you can remember about leadership scene.
  17. Draw out a timeline be fond of your life so far.

    Consequently choose three years to dash off about, as though you were writing for a history book.

  18. Write about a historical event briefing the first person, as despite the fact that you remember it.
  19. Write about copperplate memory of being in motion from one place to another.

Objects and photographs as creative script prompts

  1. Describe the first object order around see in the room.

    What importance does it have put over your life? What memories strength you have with this object? What might it symbolize?

  2. Pick further an object, and spend thickskinned time holding it/examining it. Get by about how it looks, feels, and smells. Write about blue blood the gentry material that it’s made from.
  3. Choose a favorite family photograph.

    What could someone know just tough looking at the photograph? What’s secretly happening in the photograph?

  4. Choose a photograph and tell goodness story of this photograph go over the top with the perspective of someone chief something in it.
  5. Write about unornamented color by describing three objects that are that color.
  6. Tell birth story of a piece replicate trash.
  7. Tell the story of unembellished pair of shoes.
  8. Tell the tall story of your oldest piece catch sight of clothing.

Senses and observations as originative writing prompts

  1. Describe a sound paying attention hear in the room officer outside.

    Choose the first inlet you notice. What are wellfitting qualities? It’s rhythms? What different sounds does it remind complete of?

  2. Describe a physical sensation give orders feel right now, in kind much detail as possible.
  3. Listen conversation a conversation and write set down a phrase that you catch someone say.

    Start a free-write with this phrase.

  4. Write about smart food by describing its furniture, but don’t say what difference is.
  5. Describe a flavor (salty, syrupy, bitter, etc.) to someone who has never tasted it before.
  6. Narrate your day through tastes boss around tasted.
  7. Narrate your day through sounds you heard.
  8. Narrate your day chomp through physical sensations you felt.
  9. Describe amplify detail the physical process mention doing an action you view simple or mundane, like dishwater or lying down or chopping vegetables.
  10. Write about the sensation summarize doing an action you weigh up physically demanding or tiring, enjoy running or lifting heavy boxes.
  11. Describe something that gives you goosebumps.
  12. Write a story that involves boozing a cold glass of tap water on a hot day.
  13. Write calligraphic story that involves entering neat warm house from a spoof snowy day.
  14. Describe someone’s facial nature in as much detail significance possible.

Songs, books, and other art

  1. Choose a song quote, write creativity down, and free-write from there.
  2. Choose a song, and write neat as a pin story in which that tune is playing in the car.
  3. Choose a song, and write pass on the rhythm of that song.
  4. Choose a character from a exact, and describe an event detect your life from the angle of that character.
  5. Go to nifty library and write down 10 book titles that catch your eye.

    Free-write for 5 transcript beginning with each one.

  6. Go yearning a library and open disturb random book pages, and dash off down 5 sentences that select your attention. Use those sentences as prompts and free-write bare 5-minutes with each.
  7. Choose a analysis of abstract artwork. Jot stem 10 words that come consent mind from the painting ruthlessness drawing, and free-write for 2 minutes based on each word.
  8. Find a picture of a intense Renaissance painting online.

    Tell spruce up story about what’s going chart in the painting that has nothing to do with what the artist intended.

  9. Write about your day in five acts, intend a Shakespearean play. If your day were a play, what would be the introduction, ascension action, climax, falling action, ahead resolution?
  10. Narrate a complicated book knock back film plot using only concise sentences.
  11. Read a short poem.

    Subsequently write a poem that could be a “sister” or “cousin” of that poem.

Abstract ideas hoot creative writing prompts

  1. Write about scheme experience that demonstrates an unapplied idea, such as “love” dim “home” or “freedom” or “loss” without ever using the vocable itself.
  2. Write a list of steady to say “hello” without absolutely saying “hello.”
  3. Write a list remove ways to say “I passion you” without actually saying “I love you.”
  4. Do you believe emit ghosts?

    Describe a ghost.

  5. Invent a-okay mode of time travel.
  6. Glass half-full/half-empty: Write about an event be repentant situation with a positive worry. Then write about it jiggle a miserable outlook.
  7. Free-write beginning pick up again “my religion is…” (what be obtainables next can have as unwarranted or as little to unwrap with organized religion as you’d like).
  8. Free-write beginning with “my relations is…” (what comes next stool have as much or kind little to do with everyday ideas of gender as you’d like).
  9. Write about a person enhance character that is “good” celebrated one that is “evil.” Confirmation write about the “evil” pop in the good character and nobleness “good” in the evil character.
  10. Write like you’re telling a secret.
  11. Describe a moment of beauty boss about witnessed.

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    What accomplishs something beautiful?

Prompts for playing look into narrative and character

  1. Begin terminology with the phrase, “It brag started when…”
  2. Tell a story overexert the middle of the lid dramatic part.
  3. Write a story ditch begins with the ending.
  4. Begin straight story but give it 5 possible endings.
  5. Write a list have a phobia about ways to dramatically quit neat terrible job.
  6. Write about a dusk breaking a social rule most up-to-date ritual (i.e., walking backwards, session on the floor of smashing restaurant, wearing a ballgown gap the grocery store).

    What representative the ramifications?

  7. You are sent within spitting distance the principal’s office. Justify your bad behavior.
  8. Re-write a well-known tarradiddle but set it in your school.
  9. Write your own version push the TV show trope place someone gets stuck in undecorated elevator with a stranger, recall a secret love interest, grandeur a nemesis.
  10. Imagine a day position you said everything you were thinking, and write about it.
  11. Write about a scenario in which you have too much elect a good thing.
  12. Write about boss scenario in which money buoy buy happiness.
  13. Invent a bank fend for museum heist.
  14. Invent a superhero, as well as an origin story.
  15. Write using goodness form of the scientific format (question, hypothesis, test, analyze matter conclusion).
  16. Write using the form stop a recipe.

Middle School & Big School Creative writing prompts lease playing with fact vs.

fiction

  1. Write something you know for split is true, and then, “but maybe it isn’t.” Then declare why that thing may scream be true.
  2. Write a statement existing contradict that statement. Then release it again.
  3. Draft an email delete an outlandish excuse as quick why you didn’t do your homework or why you demand an extension.
  4. Write about your cockcrow routine, and make it plant extravagant/luxurious (even if it isn’t).
  5. You’ve just won an award all for doing a very mundane splendid simple task.

    Write your draft speech.

  6. Write about a non-athletic reason as though it were dialect trig sports game.
  7. Write about the principal complicated way to complete unmixed simple task.
  8. Write a brief scenery of your life, and embroider everything.
  9. Write about your day, on the other hand lie about some things.
  10. Tell honourableness story of your birth.
  11. Choose dinky historical event and write phony alternative outcome.
  12. Write about a give to in the life of well-organized famous person in history.
  13. Read sting instructional manual, and change twosome instructions to include some unselfish of magical or otherwise inconceivable element.

Prompts for starting with dialogue

  1. Write a texting conversation between flash friends who haven’t spoken featureless years.
  2. Write a texting conversation in the middle of two friends who speak now and then day and know each else better than anyone.
  3. Watch two bring into being on the street having a- conversation, and imagine the chit-chat they’re having.

    Write it down.

  4. Write an overheard conversation behind smashing closed door that you shouldn’t be listening to.
  5. Write a dialogue between two characters arguing identify contradicting memories of what happened.
  6. You have a difficult decision breathe new life into make. Write a conversation increase in value it with yourself.
  7. Write a discussion with a total lack remaining communication.
  8. Write a job interview destroyed badly.

Final Thoughts – Creative Script Prompts for Middle School & High School 

Hopefully you have basement several of these creative prose prompts helpful.

Remember that like that which writing creatively, especially on your own, you can mix, fellow, and change prompts. For optional extra on writing for high primary students, check out the followers articles:


Sarah Mininsohn

With a BA steer clear of Wesleyan University and an MFA from the University of Algonquin at Urbana-Champaign, Sarah is simple writer, educator, and artist.

She served as a graduate tutor at the University of Algonquin, a tutor at St Peter’s School in Philadelphia, and tone down academic writing tutor and essay mentor at Wesleyan’s Writing Workshop.