Creative Writing Activities for High School
Creative writing can be both incredibly fun and incredibly terrifying for high school students. It is incredibly fun because it gives students a break from formal essay writing and vocabulary tests. It can be incredibly terrifying if the students are uncertain of their writing ability or creativity and imagination. However, learning to write creatively is imperative for future success in college and the job market. Here are some creative writing activities suitable for high schoolers to help get the creative juices flowing and make the process seem less threatening.
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Simple Poetry: Haiku
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Introduce high school students to haiku poetry. Haikus are three line poems consisting of a first line of five syllables, a second line of seven syllables and a final line of five syllables. The small poems feature two parts, with a turning point usually occurring in the middle of the poem. Since haiku poems are most commonly a personal reaction to an everyday occurrence, the students needn't worry about coming up with something profound.
Craft a Story Based on a News Item
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Ask students to find a story that interests them from the news. Have them clip it from the paper, print it from the Internet or write a summary of it from television news and bring into class. The students should compose a short story that uses the news item they found as a springboard. Encourage the students to add or delete from the story as they wish, making something that is reflective of who they are.
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Use Another Story As a Springboard
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Have students read a story or novel in class or as a homework assignment. Then encourage them to write their own story using a similar theme or in the same style as the original story. This activity works particularly well when students are reading genres such as horror or science fiction. Alternatively, have students read a poem and then write their own poem in the style read. For instance, if the students are reading Shakespeare's sonnets, have them compose their own sonnets in response.
Playwriting
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Playwriting is a great way for students to really play with both language and imagery. Challenge students to write a play using alliteration, by focusing on a word chosen at random from the dictionary, or by setting it in an unusual place. A full length play may be too daunting for young writers while a ten minute play or one act may be the perfect length. Playwriting is also great for learning to develop characters. Encourage students to think of what makes them and their friends unique and assign those characteristics to their characters.
Exquisite Corpse
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Exquisite Corpses are a fun, simple way to introduce students to collaborative creative writing. Created by the Surrealists in the 1920s, exquisite corpses are pieces of writing created by a group of people. The first student writes a sentence or two, conceals what has been written and passes the paper to the next student, who writes another sentence and so on. There may be rules regarding the sequence or the students may be allowed to see the last thing written but nothing prior to it. The activity helps to open students up since the end product is guaranteed to be nonsensical.
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