What can you do when your food order is incorrect or your new purchase falls apart? Complain! Learn how to complain constructively with this writing prompt for you and your children.
HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS Many exciting stories have come from scientific ponderings. Take, for instance, Frankenstein. It was written by Mary Shelley while the scientific world debated the idea of reanimation. Could something dead, a frog, perhaps, be reanimated by electricity? And if a frog could be brought back to life, what about a human? And…
Dogs and cats with Love on a Leash are certified therapy pets so they can help people. You can even read to them in school. What would you read to a dog?
One of the first rules storywriters learn is this: Show, don’t tell. What does that mean? Read on to find out and to practice this important skill!
HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS In a recent tutorial, you practiced plunging your character into hot water with two powerful methods many writers use. You can find that prompt here.This week you’ll examine three more methods of getting your main character deep into a story. As Stanley Elkin reveals, “I would never write about someone who is…
HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS You have an idea for a story but don’t know how to get it going. Or you would like to write a story but are out of ideas. When you write a story, you have to throw a lot of things at your main character, things he or she would rather not…
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS Have you ever read really boring dialog in a book? You know, like this: “Jane,” said Tarzan, “have you ever noticed how much the monkeys love me?” “Yes, Tarzan, I noticed it,” said Jane. “In fact, one is climbing on you right now.” Tarzan scratched his head. “He’s pulling on my…
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS Allan G. Odell saved his company from ruin and made it quite popular. How did he do it? In the 1920s, a new shaving product was born called Burma-Shave. It was different from other shaving creams because, now, men didn’t have to lather up some cream or soap with a brush and apply…
SHARON’S BLOG It’s summer. A sweet breeze of relief flows through the family tree and tickles the leaves. You hear a child giggle. But you’ve worked hard on this year’s writing classes, and you want to make sure that your children’s writing skills don’t completely deteriorate during summer vacation. What can you do? Summer is…
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS Let’s talk about trees. Something interesting just happened to you. Right now. This moment. When you read “trees,” an image of a tree or trees popped into your head. What was it? When you write to describe something, you want to be specific. You DON’T want to write like this:
