Write Outside The Lines is a book of creative writing prompts, but the approach is witty and different from anything I’ve seen before. My ten-year-old is the “creative type,” always writing stories on her own, and she has taken this and run with it! But it’s better than that.
I am not the “creative type” – I struggle to write anything that isn’t just “black and white.” But even I can do something with these prompts. As the foreword says, “Do you like writing? If you answer ‘yes’, then this book is for you. If you answer ‘no’, then this book is even more for you.” Tough topics like writer’s block and feeling inadequate are tackled, and students are gently brought through skills like revising and editing over the course of the book.
Truly, this book is fun just to read. (But you’re kind of missing the point if you just read it and don’t do anything with it!)
“…Without organization, your creative impulses may not make sense to other people. And without your intuitive part, your stories might seem as uninspired as dishwater. (Wait! What if dishwater were inspiring? These are the kinds of question experimenting creative writers need to ask themselves every day.)“
This is an excerpt from a section about using both parts of your brain. How can you not be inspired by that? Doesn’t that just get you thinking outside the box? The whole book has little “notes” like that, that will get you thinking differently.
Some are definitely writing assignments: “Invent the secret side of someone you know or someone you’ve seen. Is your local librarian really a body builder, devoted to her orchids?” Others either involve drawing, or give an option to either draw with words or actually draw: “Describe or draw a mind with no ideas.” “Draw a bunch of ideas.” (My daughter especially likes these drawing assignments. I like the imagining part but would get very frustrated trying to put what I envision in my head down on paper, so I will likely stick with words.)
At only $2.99, this is a real steal!
I printed it out and gave it to my daughter along with a blank composition book. It’s a school assignment for her to work through “page x” on a given day, but to honor the spirit of creative writing, that’s the only rule – she’s to do the assignments. (Well, and she’s not allowed to write other stuff in her notebook, so she doesn’t fill it up with randomness that’s unrelated to creative writing.) I don’t check it, I don’t censor it, and I don’t suggest improvements or make her create revisions as I do with other writing assignments. (I think it’s good for kids to have both. Encouragement to write just to write, and encouragement to write, revise, improve, and refine. They’ll eventually learn to carry one over into the other, for themselves.)
Highly, highly recommended!
UPDATE 2/18/2013: The print version is now available!
This works for hard-to-inspire writers like me.
Disclosure: I was provided with a copy of this ebook to facilitate my review. As always, all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
Awesome idea….great to get kids more involved in writing.
Sounds like a great book. Is it available in hard copy so I don’t have to print it? Printer problems.
I don’t know. I ran into some printer setting issues, as well. I will check and find out!
This sounds really cool! I bet my daughter would love it!
I used to *love* doing writing prompts! The best one I ever heard was the first sentence of the story had to begin with, “A few days ago, I…” and had to end with, “…and now no one will talk to me.” It was hilarious!