Summer 2015 Writing Prompt #10

We'll end our summer writing prompts with a good-bye to summer vacation. See the prompt below!

Set a story on the last day of summer vacation. 

Include a dog, a thief, a cupcake factory, and a broken window. 

Summer 2015 Writing Prompt #9

A gate, a door, an entryway, a portal….no matter what we call it, it invites us to enter another world. What awaits us on the other side? See the prompt below!

Write a story about a boy who opens this gate and meets 
someone or something that brings trouble.  

Summer 2015 Writing Prompt #8

Am I the only person who sees a dog in this painting? See the prompt below! 

Write about what YOU see in this painting. 

Summer 2015 Writing Prompt #7

It's very hot and dry here on Bainbridge Island where I live. The frog pond at the end of our road has dried up. Leaves are curled. Ferns are lying flat on the ground. 

There's a drought in the Pacific Northwest and other parts of the United States, too. 

What if we put two characters into a drought situation? See the prompt below! 

A boy and his father must walk in the desert during a drought. 

They have no water. What do they do? 

Summer 2015 Writing Prompt #6

In mystery stories, detectives have a lot of tools to help them solve crimes. But a mirror? See the writing prompt below! 

You (the detective) have been hired to solve a murder. 

You solve it using only your mirror. Write a 1st-person ("I") mystery story explaining how. 

Summer 2015 Writing Prompt #5

I love books in which characters have to survive in the wilderness. 

This week, we'll make the wild world the setting for our prompt. (See the prompt below!) 

Write about two children lost in a forest. 

Summer 2015 Writing Prompt #4

Warning! A bunny is about to invade!

I discovered the "Minnehaha Bunny," a bronze sculpture created by Jeffrey Barber, in a park in Minneapolis. Wouldn't she make a great writing prompt? 

A giant bunny invades your yard! What will you do? 

Summer 2015 Writing Prompt #3

Have you ever dreamed of living in a tower? 

If we can't really live in a tower, we can do the next best thing. For our writing prompt this week, let your imagination roam among the bricks and turrets of this magical place. 

Set a story in this tower. Don't forget to include a hero and a villain. 

A dragon would be a nice touch, too! 

Summer 2015 Writing Prompt #2

If you've ever gone to the post office in another country, you know it can be an adventure.  

Here's a mailbox in Warsaw, Poland. ("Poczta" means "mail.") 

For our writing prompt, we'll take ourselves to another land. 

Write about sending a letter in another country. You're homesick. You lost your phone. And you don't speak the language. You walk into the post office and….

Summer 2015 Writing Prompt #1

During the summer, Yellow Pencils likes to keep things simple.

Each week, I'll post a Summer Writing Prompt with a photo. Take your notebook and pencil to a comfy spot--under a tree, on your front steps, or to the beach. 

The photo and the prompt below it are to inspire. What is your story or poem? 

Write about three mice in a fountain.

Have fun! 

Writing...NOT on White Paper

Do you get tired of writing on plain old white paper? Or on your computer screen with that insistent cursor telling you to hurry up?

Author and writing coach Christi Krug has a solution. She calls it "Oddball Hard Copy."

She suggests, "Forget the logical white page. Write on colored paper cut into odd shapes. Cover a shoebox with wrapping paper and write on the top, bottom and sides."

To that I would add: Write with crayons! 

This week, let yourself be creative. Find some colored paper, the back of cereal boxes, recycled magazines, yesterday's newspaper, or old greeting cards. (Make sure no one wants to keep them.) Find your crayons or an assortment of felt-tip pens. 

Then…write. Don't worry about whether your writing is "pretty" or  mistake-free. How is your writing different? Do you feel freer?

Later, if you want, copy what you wrote onto white paper or the screen. But have fun first writing "Oddball Hard Copy."

Summer Writing Prompt #11

We'll end our summer prompts with a mystery.

Summer Writing Prompt #11

Write about a treasure map and a stolen key. 

Summer Writing Prompt #10

Have you ever gone to your mailbox (I mean the physical one near your house), and it seems to be filled with junk mail? That happens to me a lot!!!

Usually the junk mail goes straight to recycling. But what if there was a very special piece of junk mail? That's our writing prompt for this week.

Summer Writing Prompt #10

Write about a piece of junk mail that changes someone's life.

Summer Writing Prompt #9

Writing about food is always fun…especially when the food is cupcakes! 

What about those hardworking people who make these fantastic creations for us to eat---the cupcake decorators. What if one of them enters the "Ultimate Cupcake Contest," but things don't turn out quite as planned? 

Summer Writing Prompt #9

A cupcake decorator enters the Ultimate Cupcake Contest

Summer Writing Prompt #8

Have you ever been in a place where you don't speak the language?

Whether your answer is yes or no, imagine eating in a cafe where you can't read the menu! After you order, will you be served raw octopus or a yummy chocolate dessert?

Summer Writing Prompt #8

Write about a cafe with a menu in an unfamiliar language. 

Summer Writing Prompt #7

Every time I hear a police siren, I wonder what's happening. How about you? 

Use your imagination to "hear" the siren and write a story to go with it. Is there a robbery in progress? Has there been an accident? Is a cat stuck in a tree?

Summer Writing Prompt #7

A police siren

Summer Writing Prompt #6

Maybe you love dogs, or maybe not so much--but have you ever tried sitting in the back seat of a car with three of them???

Write about just that for our prompt this week:

Summer Writing Prompt #6

Riding in the back seat of a car with three dogs

Summer Writing Prompt #5

If you love to read (like me), you'll probably read anything…even cereal boxes! Doesn't it seem like a waste to toss that colorful cardboard box into the recycling bin?

Imagine if something else happened to the empty box that held your yummy morning cereal. 

Summer Writing Prompt #5

A museum that displays cereal boxes 

Summer Writing Prompt #4

Shoes are one of those things that can bring up a lot of emotion….your favorite beat-up sneakers, the shoes you wore on the first day of kindergarten, or the flip-flops you live in all summer. 

For this week's prompt, we'll write about a traveling pair of shoes:

Summer Writing Prompt #4

A pair of shoes found in an empty suitcase

Summer Writing Prompt #3

This week, our writing prompt has to do with…garbage?

Summer Writing Prompt #3

A garbage bag that holds a treasure