Writing Prompts for Kids: A Creative Workbook for Ages 7 to 9

Copyright © 2022 by Rockridge Press

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First Rockridge Press trade paperback edition 2022

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Paperback ISBN: 978-1-68539-571-1 | eBook ISBN: 978-1-68539-809-5

Manufactured in the United States of America

Interior and Cover Designer: Michael Cook and Joshua Moore

Art Producer: Hannah Dickerson

Editor: Maxine Marshall

Production Editor: Ruth Sakata Corley

Production Manager: Jose Olivera

All illustrations used under license from Shutterstock.com and iStock.com, except for the following: © Robin Boyer, p. 47; © Collaborate Agency, p. 58

Author photo courtesy of Stephanie Challis Photography

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To Kevin, Ava, Max, and Cam: Thank you for giving me a world full of beautiful stories.

Contents

Introduction

How to Use This Book

How to Use This Workbook on an Ebook Device

My Story

PART 1: Ready, Set, Go!

Time to Brainstorm

Visiting My Imagination

Starting a New Story

Learning from Other Writers

Wonderful Words

Drawing a Mind Map

Incredible Ideas

Starting Your Stories

Exciting Verbs

Jumping in with Action Leads

Start with a Conversation

The Flower Said to the Bee

Point of View

My Ideas

PART 2: Who, What, Where, When, Why?

What a Character!

Name Game

Inspiring Ideas for New Characters

Brainstorming Characters

Freewriting a Character

Describing Characters

Creating a Hero

The Vicious Vegetable Strikes Again!

What Is the Character Thinking?

Thinking Like Cats and Dogs

Dragon Dialogue

The Main Events

Noticing Great Plots

Climbing Plot Mountain

Plot Mix-Up

Three Kinds of Conflict

The Plot of the Big Game

Drawing the Plot

Tremendous Turning Points

Plot Twist!

My Message

Be Yourself

Where Are We?

Settings for My Stories

Ready, Setting, Go!

Setting in the Sky

Wish You Were Here

Ant’s World

Settings Past and Present

I’m Upside Down!

Moody Settings

Spooky Hideout

Describe That Setting

Adding the Details: Thoughts, Actions, and Feelings

Character Thoughts, Feelings, and Actions

The View from My Window

What Are They Thinking?

Bird Talk

Inspired by Real Life

Slowdown Time

Strong Descriptive Words

There Once Was a Wizard

My Ideas

PART 3: In Conclusion

Make the End Your Friend

Inspiring Endings

Resolving Conflict

Sloth Solutions

My Ending, My Way

Was It a Happy Ending?

Let’s Edit!

The Power of Punctuation

Editing the Newspaper

In the Land of Capital Letters

Astronaut Edits

Putting It All Together

Terrific Topics

My Ideas

Keep Writing!

Glossary

Resources

About the Author

My About the Author

Acknowledgments

My Acknowledgments

Introduction

Imagine waking up in a candy castle. Your bed is a marshmallow. The lamps around you are made of lollipops. The door is a giant chocolate bar. You are suddenly in an amazing story!

This book is designed to help you explore narrative writing. Narrative is another word for story. I have been teaching kids how to bring stories to life for over twenty years. I am a teacher and a mom of three awesome kids. My kids and I love telling stories, especially the ones we create ourselves.

Writing allows you to find your voice. No one can tell the stories from your imagination except YOU. Your stories matter! You might make mistakes along the way, but that’s okay. Have an eraser nearby as you work through the book. If you use your eraser a lot, it just means you are writing like an author. Keep trying, and have fun!

Remember, stories can take you anywhere, from candy castles to riding on the back of a tiger. Where will your stories take you?

How to Use This Book

This book is divided into three parts. In part 1 , you’ll learn how to start a super story that will get your readers hooked. Prompts in part 1 will help you brainstorm ideas for stories, collect awesome words to include in your stories, and more. Then, in part 2 , you’ll fill the middle of your story with interesting characters, the perfect setting , and events that will keep your readers on the edge of their seats. There are prompts to explore why the characters in a story do the things they do, and to practice using all the five senses to create settings that feel real. Finally, in part 3 , you will learn how to write an ending that will WOW your readers. You’ll practice checking your writing for mistakes and imagine how different endings can change a story.

There are lots of steps to creating a great story! Don’t worry, you don’t have to learn everything all at once. You have already learned new words: narrative writing!

New vocabulary words are bolded the first time that they appear. When you see a bolded word, know that you can always flip to the glossary