Finished with your work?
Have you
- proofread and revised?
- peer-edited?
- attached your draft to your final copy?
Then complete one or more of these writing activities. (At least 1 page)
Writing Habits Questions
1. What are your best memories about writing?
2. What is the easiest thing about writing for you, and why?
3. What different kinds of writing do you do? Who reads your writing?
4. Where is your writing published or shared with others?
5. What materials and/or equipment do you like to have on hand when you write? What are these items for? Why do you have them?
6. What steps do you follow when you write? Outline your writing process, using a simple, informal outline format.
7. Are you a procrastinator when it comes to writing? What do you try to avoid? What do you typically do instead?
8. What’s the biggest influence on the way you write? Why does it make a difference?
9. If someone else were observing you as a writer, what would they notice? What would they see or hear?
10. Overall, how would you describe yourself as a writer? What kind of writer are you and why do you say so?
Memoir (Personal Narrative) Prompts
1: What is your first memory about your siblings, parents, pets, toys, or home?
2: What is your happiest childhood memory? Your saddest?
3: How have childhood favorites impacted you? (toys, cartoons, books, etc.)
4: What is your first memory about school?
5: Was learning to read and write a struggle for you? Why?
6: Who was your favorite teacher? Why?
7: What was your favorite subject in school? Why?
8: What do you wish you would have learned more about in school?
9: What schoolmate has had the most impact on your life? In what way?
10: What was the first moment you felt truly grown up or independent?
General Prompts:
1. Explain this quote: Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish. – Ovid
2. Would you like to be famous? Why or why not? What would you like to be famous for?
3. If it were up to you to choose one item from the twenty-first century to place in a time capsule for future generations, what would you choose? Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice.
4. Who makes a better leader: someone who is loved, or someone who is feared? Take a position and explain your answer.
5. Imagine that everyone in your city or town was now required by law to perform a minimum of 3 hours community service per month. What would your reaction be? Would you be pleased? Unhappy? Worried? What sort of activity would you choose to do?
6. Write a review of a movie, TV show, or concert that you saw recently.
7. Write a made-up magic spell, including ingredients, chants, and actions.
8. Write a formal complaint letter to your deepest, darkest fear.
9. Write a sappy love poem to a distant personage, then go back and change/add words to make it sarcastic.
10. Come up with a new holiday. Explain why and how it should be celebrated.
11. You are given the opportunity to talk to one dead person and tell him one thing that you didn’t get to before he passed away. Who would you pick and what would you tell him (or her, of course)?
12. Write a 20-line poem (rhyming or non-rhyming) dedicated to your favorite piece of clothing (could be a shirt, hat, shoes, etc.).
13. It’s time for you and Writer’s Block to part ways. Write a letter breaking up with Writer’s Block, starting out with, “Dear Writer’s Block, it’s not you, it’s me … .”
14. It has often been said, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Do you agree? Why or why not? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your answer.
Persuasive Prompts:
1. We all have favorite activities that we enjoy. Write a post convincing readers to try the activity that you enjoy most.
2. Have you ever traveled to a place that you found very meaningful and rewarding? Write a post that persuades others to visit this
important place.
3. What is your all-time favorite movie and why? Write a post persuading readers to watch this film.
4. Many people believe that honesty is the best policy. In your opinion, is it ever okay to lie? Explain your answer using specific
reasons and examples.
5. If an alumnus donated a large sum of money to your school, how do you think that money should be spent? Write a post
convincing school officials to allocate the money in the way you think is best for the school.
6. Every year, millions of people visit zoos around the world. But some people believe that zoos are inhumane and that animals should not be kept in captivity. Do you agree? Why or why not? Use specific reasons and examples to support your position.
Click here for February Writing Prompts
1. What are your best memories about writing?
2. What is the easiest thing about writing for you, and why?
3. What different kinds of writing do you do? Who reads your writing?
4. Where is your writing published or shared with others?
5. What materials and/or equipment do you like to have on hand when you write? What are these items for? Why do you have them?
6. What steps do you follow when you write? Outline your writing process, using a simple, informal outline format.
7. Are you a procrastinator when it comes to writing? What do you try to avoid? What do you typically do instead?
8. What’s the biggest influence on the way you write? Why does it make a difference?
9. If someone else were observing you as a writer, what would they notice? What would they see or hear?
10. Overall, how would you describe yourself as a writer? What kind of writer are you and why do you say so?
Memoir (Personal Narrative) Prompts
1: What is your first memory about your siblings, parents, pets, toys, or home?
2: What is your happiest childhood memory? Your saddest?
3: How have childhood favorites impacted you? (toys, cartoons, books, etc.)
4: What is your first memory about school?
5: Was learning to read and write a struggle for you? Why?
6: Who was your favorite teacher? Why?
7: What was your favorite subject in school? Why?
8: What do you wish you would have learned more about in school?
9: What schoolmate has had the most impact on your life? In what way?
10: What was the first moment you felt truly grown up or independent?
General Prompts:
1. Explain this quote: Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish. – Ovid
2. Would you like to be famous? Why or why not? What would you like to be famous for?
3. If it were up to you to choose one item from the twenty-first century to place in a time capsule for future generations, what would you choose? Use specific reasons and examples to support your choice.
4. Who makes a better leader: someone who is loved, or someone who is feared? Take a position and explain your answer.
5. Imagine that everyone in your city or town was now required by law to perform a minimum of 3 hours community service per month. What would your reaction be? Would you be pleased? Unhappy? Worried? What sort of activity would you choose to do?
6. Write a review of a movie, TV show, or concert that you saw recently.
7. Write a made-up magic spell, including ingredients, chants, and actions.
8. Write a formal complaint letter to your deepest, darkest fear.
9. Write a sappy love poem to a distant personage, then go back and change/add words to make it sarcastic.
10. Come up with a new holiday. Explain why and how it should be celebrated.
11. You are given the opportunity to talk to one dead person and tell him one thing that you didn’t get to before he passed away. Who would you pick and what would you tell him (or her, of course)?
12. Write a 20-line poem (rhyming or non-rhyming) dedicated to your favorite piece of clothing (could be a shirt, hat, shoes, etc.).
13. It’s time for you and Writer’s Block to part ways. Write a letter breaking up with Writer’s Block, starting out with, “Dear Writer’s Block, it’s not you, it’s me … .”
14. It has often been said, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Do you agree? Why or why not? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your answer.
Persuasive Prompts:
1. We all have favorite activities that we enjoy. Write a post convincing readers to try the activity that you enjoy most.
2. Have you ever traveled to a place that you found very meaningful and rewarding? Write a post that persuades others to visit this
important place.
3. What is your all-time favorite movie and why? Write a post persuading readers to watch this film.
4. Many people believe that honesty is the best policy. In your opinion, is it ever okay to lie? Explain your answer using specific
reasons and examples.
5. If an alumnus donated a large sum of money to your school, how do you think that money should be spent? Write a post
convincing school officials to allocate the money in the way you think is best for the school.
6. Every year, millions of people visit zoos around the world. But some people believe that zoos are inhumane and that animals should not be kept in captivity. Do you agree? Why or why not? Use specific reasons and examples to support your position.
Click here for February Writing Prompts