Fairy Tale Writing Prompts

Little Red Riding Hood II, a photo by Maria Kristin Steinsson on Flickr.

For today's creative writing prompts, we are going to look at fairy tales. 

Free-Write: Invent a new fairy tale by taking an old favorite and mixing it up a bit.   You can change the ending, add characters, or change the plot. Try free-writing for 10 minutes and see where it takes you. 

For the Brave:

Below are two links to Poets.org The links will take you to poems.  One is "Fairy Tale" by Ron Padgett.  Notice how the poem is all in one stanza, but there are 3 distinctive parts.  One is the description of the elf, the next part is the place where the elf is, and the third part is a short monologue by the elf himself.  What effect do you have when you read the poem?  How do you think the way the writer organized this influences the effect?  Discuss it in your class or reflect on it in your journal entry.  Do writing practice by describing another character that might appear in a fairy tale, then follow it up by place (it can be a place in the present) and then of course, a short little monologue of what your character has to say and what he or she is planning (but don't give us too many details).  Take this as writing practice and feel free to share what you have.

Here is the link that also provides an audio track if teachers would like to play it for the class:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19923

The next link I'm going to give you is a sad poem called "A Fairy Tale" by Jennifer L. Knox.  This is your warning!  It pretty much brought tears to my eyes (pardon the cliche).  You can write a sad, modern day tale or a happy one.  It's up to you.  Below is the link, and don't say I didn't warn you!

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/2320

my favorite things - julie andrews

Today's writing prompts are centered around our favorite things. Enjoy the music by Julie Andrews. Then make a list of 10 of your favorite things. Try to make a phrase for each. For example, it's not just a rose, but "raindrops on roses," as the song goes.

After you make your list, you can chose to write an essay or a poem about one of them. You could also write a list poem titled, "My favorite things," and include all on your list and perhaps more.

This is good writing practice.  No such thing as writers block on this one!

For fiction writers, if you have a novel you are working on, pick one of your characters and spend a time making a list of what your character's favorite things are. This can give you some insight as you continue on with your book. If you are not working on a novel, pick a character from one of your short stories and go from there.

Happy Writing! And please, in the comments section, give us a few of the items on your list. We'd love to see them.

Creative Writing Prompts with Random Words

PUHCHO 18
© Yordan Mihaylov | Dreamstime.com

Today we are working with random words for our creative writing prompts.  Here are your words of the day:

lizard like, blink, evolve, ceiling, violin, island, dazzle, afloat, south, backwards, chickadee, humble, random, blush, appear, sunrise, spirit, fall, lie, turn, sweeten, green, willow, green, amethyst

Writing Practice:  Use 5 of the words in a paragraph about anything. 

Poetry Writing Prompt:  Use at least 7 of these words in a poem that is 12 lines or less.

Free-Write:  What is the cat in the picture thinking?