Creative writing. Some kids are good at it, and some aren't. At least they think they aren't. Think of the kids in your classroom. What is the reaction when your teacher tells them they have to write a story? Some kids might think that's just great, but there are some that moan. Lots of the moaning is because they can never think of a good topic for their story. In fact, some kids take more time agonizing about a topic than they do writing. Stop the Moaning !
Are you one of those moaners who hates story writing because you can never think of anything to write? If so, it's not so bad when the teacher gives you a topic. The really bad problem comes when you have to think of a topic yourself.
But, don't worry. Your computer can rescue you. There are sites on the Internet that can help you find a topic. You don't have to sit there staring at a blank computer screen.
There are some sites that are meant for teachers, but kids can make great use of what's on them. One of these is A to Z Teacher Stuff. This site has story starters that teachers use. One of the starters is "What if dogs could read?" Now that could become a sensational story. Disney might buy it for a movie.
Think Quest is a great place to go for story starters. You'll find a number of references to this site if you do a search for story starters. Here are some from the Think Quest Library that come from The Reading Teacher's Book of Lists. Here are two of the ideas: "Get that thing away from me!" the girl yelled." "He didn't look like a genius, he look more like..."
Do you like mysteries? If you watch them on television or read mystery books, a mystery topic would be a good one for you. The Think Quest Library has some great ideas for mystery writing. Besides setting your brain cells going with possible plots, you'll find information about characters, too.
The Story Starter site can offer you almost three hundred crazy starter sentences. Be warned, the phrases in the sentences are randomly generated so some of them are really bizarre and don't make much sense. They do get you thinking, though. You'll have to edit them to get a good topic sentence for your story. Examples: "The mean mathematician boiled a potato in a broken elevator for the mystery writer." "The mysterious plumber started to scream in the supermarket the prevent the bloodshed."
There's a site called Telling Tales that has different categories of story starters. If as the site says, "It's as though that empty page doesn't want anything written on it", you have loads of ideas to get going. "The telephone rang, and her life changed forever." "The floorboard creaked."
Writing Fix is another one of the teacher sites, but you'll find some interesting ideas here. Included are right-brained and left-brained starters, like "Bulldozer in the Kitchen" and "A Day as Your Shoes".
WARNING: You should just get ideas from these sites, not copy stories or story beginnings. If you really want to use the words from a story starter, make sure to ask your teacher if it is okay. Otherwise, everything needs to be in your own words.
Get the Ideas Then Put Your Mind to Work
Whether you think so or not, there are loads of great ideas running around in your head. When you check some of the topics and story starters, all those ideas locked up in your brain will come flooding out. For example, you might not want to write about "A Day in the Life of Your Shoes", but you may decide to write "A Day in the Life of Your Game Boy". You may not want to write about a screaming plumber, but you may want to write about "The Superhero Plumber."
