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get Ready
to write
Perfect your process for a smooth start
to any writing assignment.
where do ideas
come from?
What inspires you and sets your mind in motion?
when you’re writing a short story?
a. thinking about the highlights of your favorite fantasy book series
b. remembering how you solved your last fight with your best friend
c. wondering what would happen if you could read people’s minds
when you’re writing about current events?
a. talking about the news with your dad and mom
b. skimming the headlines on a news website
c. flipping through news magazines
when you’re writing a personal essay
about your favorite holiday memory?
a. calling your grandma, who makes the world’s best Thanksgiving dinner
b. browsing family photo albums
c. paging through your journal from the last year
when you’re writing a book report?
a. listing books by authors you enjoy
b. wondering how a favorite character would solve your problems
c. asking your friends about the novels they love
when you’re writing a hISTORY
report about colonial America?
a. watching a documentary about colonial cooking
b. looking through your notes from history class
c. chatting with your mom about your family’s trip to
Colonial Williamsburg
when you’re writing a haiku
for your school literary
magazine?
a. thinking about your favorite colors, sounds, and tastes
b. picking out details of an interesting photo or painting
c. listing words you love because of the way they sound
As you might have guessed, they’re all right answers!
Your life, your experiences, and your thoughts are
the best sources you have for writing ideas. School
writing assignments usually give you a starting point,
such as “Tell a story from your summer vacation” or
“Write a poem about your favorite season.” But most
assignments leave plenty of room to imagine, research,
and develop your own ideas.
Pencil
Point
Ideas can come from
anywhere, anytime.
Keep a notebook to
record questions that
cross your mind, to-do
lists, words you love,
conversations you
overhear, jokes that
make you laugh, what-
ever you like! Ideas
for all your writing—
whether for school or
for yourself—can go
in your notebook.
TIP: You might want
to keep a special
notebook just for the
exercises and prompts
in this book.
Let It Pour!
Brainstorm your way to a flood of ideas.
Suppose your teacher starts the school year by giving you this assignment:
School’s out from June to September, but learning
happens all year long! Write 3 to 5 paragraphs about
something you learned over summer vacation.
Great! You went to summer camp, and you learned some new skills and made
new friends. Plus, you spent a week with your grandpa, who taught you his
favorite card games. You’ve got so many possibilities!
Brainstorming helps you choose a topic from all those possibilities and develop
ideas for your writing projects. When you brainstorm, you scribble your thoughts
quickly, without worrying about being neat or writing in complete sentences or
wondering if they are good ideas. Just write down as many ideas as you can.
Check out the brainstorming techniques on the next few pages, and try one,
two, or all three!
Mind Map
Write your prompt, question, or topic at the center of a blank page and circle it.
Then write any ideas inspired by the topic around it. Draw lines to connect the
ideas to your topic—and to each other when they relate in some way.
