10 Never-before-seen Story-starters to Spark Your Writing

Week of September 18: Writer, Examine Thyself

Thursday, September 22—10 Never-before-seen Story-starters to Spark Your Writing

A teacher friend I know once was exasperated by a student who kept saying he had nothing to write about. Any open-ended question she asked was met with, “I dunno.” Finally, the teacher said, "Fine. Just write about bears,” and walked away. Soon the boy raised his hand. When the teacher went back to him, he said, “I don’t want to write about bears. I want to write about . . .” The teacher said, “Fine. Write about that!”

Read through the story-starters below. If one sparks your imagination, grab it and go for it. If one sparks another idea, go for it. If you say, “These ideas suck, I’m going to write about . . ." Then I say, “Fine Write about that!”

1. Write a story about how cupcakes were invented.

2. Imgaine a half-mythological-half-school-kid character. Now populate a school with these hybrid kids and write about them.

3. Write a concept book that shows different kinds of weather.

4. Create a story about the animals on display at a county fair.

5. Write a story about a main character named Booger Davis. Make this a character-driven story that reveals who Booger is. Remember, if he’s the MC, we need to love him.

6. Choose a household object to personify. Now write a story about that character.

7. Write a story that incorporates a recipe.

8. Imagine if a classroom teacher had an invisible pet. Write about it.

9. Write an entire story using only onomatopoeias (or sounds).

10. Write an interactive story—one that causes the reader to turn, touch, hold, shake, and move the book based on the text.