Newspaper Series Writing Prompts 2012-13

In 2012-13, YWP is publishing best student work in 21 newspapers in VT and NH and on Vermont Public Radio's Web site, vpr.net (and some on-air appearances, too.) Click on the prompt and see the writing that has already been submitted. Add yours today! We want your work! Attached below is a pdf version of the prompts. ALSO, large versions of the photos are in a slide show at bottom; if you click on the photo you can "download the original" for the purposes of printing it out. 

Questions: Contact Susan Reid at sreid@youngwritersproject.org or 802-324-9539 or Geoffrey Gevalt at ggevalt@youngwritersproject.org or 802-324-9537

Submission instructions: youngwritersproject.org/instructions12-13

• To view submissions by prompt: Newspaper Submissions
• To see the 21 newspaper partners: Media Partners

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Write to the following prompt:

33. Vacation. Recall a specific moment on a favorite vacation and describe it. Or imagine your perfect vacation. Alternate: General writing in any genre. Due May 17

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Due dates for the following prompts have passed. Please write to the prompt above!

1. Remember. Write about your earliest memory. As a first step, make up a list of memories and then choose the most vivid. Use all of your senses to tell the story. Alternates: General writing. Share your best writing from the summer – in any genre; or Photo 1 (see photo left -- or below for downloading, too). Write a poem based on this photo. Due Sept. 21

2. Elevator. You’re stuck in an elevator with a stranger. Create a short story, shaped primarily with dialogue, about your interaction with this person who is either annoying, funny or terrified. Show how the dynamics change. How would you handle this situation? Alternate: Habit. What’s the worst habit you’re willing to admit to? Write about the great lengths you go to to break this habit.  Due Sept. 28

3. Awesome. Write a mini-story (maximum three paragraphs) without adjectives. Find the perfect noun for everything in the story. Alternates: Observer. You witness something frightening or wrong. Don’t describe the scene; focus on your own response, your action or inaction; or Photo 2 (see photo left -- or below for downloading, too). Use this photo to spark your imagination and write in any genre. Due Oct. 5

4. Haunted. You and your friends are exploring an old, abandoned house when things suddenly turn scary. What happens? Alternates: Candidate. Write a short, catchy political ad for yourself. Whether you’re running for President of the United States or local office, convince voters to vote for you!; or General writing in any genre. Due Oct. 12

5.  Flying. You are flying blissfully and effortlessly over the countryside. What do you see and feel? Alternates: Fan. Write a fan letter to someone. It can be a celebrity, a loved one, an 18th century poet – anyone; or Photo 3. (see gallery below) What happened here? Or what is about to happen? Due Oct. 19

6. Alone. Write a piece that begins with the following line: I stood at the window, watching the red tail lights disappear... Alternate: Listen. Pick a moment – in the hall at school, in the general store, anywhere – and listen. Choose the most interesting conversation you hear and base a story on it. Due Oct. 26

7. Winter Tales. Tell a narrative about winter in short, descriptive poetry or prose. Use detail to help show some aspect of winter – its darkness, its holidays, its spirit. Avoid clichés – holiday joy, hot chocolate, pink cheeks, etc. Go for something fresh. A few of the best will be selected for presentation by the Vermont Stage Company at its annual Winter Tales production at FlynnSpace in Burlington (Dec. 5-9, 2012). Alternate: Favorite place. What is the special place where you really like to be, where you feel most alive? In a garage working on an automobile? The ice rink? In the woods hunting deer? Playing bass on stage? Imagine yourself there and tell a story about it. Due Nov. 2

8. Family. Write about a moment or experience with a family member that changed you. The story should show something about the person. Use detail. Alternate: Photo 4. The boy in the photo has something to say. What is it? Due Nov. 9.

9. Light/Darkness. Use the idea of extreme contrast in any way you'd like, such as day vs. night, good vs. evil. Create a story or poem that centers on extreme contrast. Alternate: Superpower. You are granted superpowers: What superpower would you pick and why? Imagine an anecdote of you using that superpower. Due Nov. 16.          

10. Ideal being. What do you think makes someone the “ideal” person? What is the most important characteristic that a person must have? When you meet someone, what makes you like being around him or her? Alternates: Change. Write to the president of a company about a product that you think must be changed. The company and the product can be real or fictional; or Photo 5 (see photo left -- or below for downloading, too). Write a story or poem based on this photo. Due Nov. 23

11. If only... Write about a situation in which you wish you had done things differently. Alternates: Dialogue day. Tell a story using only dialogue. See how you can play around with conversation to describe complete situations and surroundings without the help of a narrator; or General writing in any genre. Due Nov. 30

12. Object. An inanimate object comes alive and tells you how it really feels. Describe the object and the conversation. Alternate: Excuse. What is the wildest – but still credible – excuse you can think of to get out of a jam? Due Dec. 7

13. Reflection. What is something you wish your 5-year-old self was told? Why do you think it’s important? Write about how you think it would have changed or helped you. Alternates: Eternal night. You wake up one morning and the sun doesn’t rise. What do you do? Or Photo #6. Use the photo above to write about winter in Vermont. Due Dec. 14

14. Kindness. You have performed an act of kindness. What is it? How does it make you feel? What happens? Did the person know? Tell a story. Alternates: Unsafe. Describe a place or circumstance where you felt unsafe; or General writing. Due Dec. 21

15. Puns. Have fun with a play on words (i.e. cereal number, sell phone, etc.) Try to fit in as many puns as you can. Be creative! Alternates: Essential. What's one thing you absolutely could not live without? and I believe...Start a piece with these words. Due Jan. 11

16. Invisible. Imagine that you are invisible for a day and could be anywhere at any time in history, witnessing without participating. What do you see? Alternates: General writing in any genre; or Photo 7 (see photo left -- or below for downloading, too). Write a poem based on this picture. Due Jan. 18

17. I like… Create a list of things you like. They can be random and unrelated or they can have a progression and tell a story within a story. Alternate: Relief. Describe the moment when you felt the greatest sensation of relief, whether from thirst, hunger, sadness, pain or fear. Due Jan. 25

18. Three letters. Choose three letters. You can write a poem or a short story, but all words must either start or end with these letters. Alternate: Bottle. You’re walking along the beach and a bottle with a message inside washes up on the shore. What is the message? What do you do? Due Feb. 1

19. Surprising. Interview someone you know and ask the person to tell you a story you’d never heard. Alternate: Photo 8 (see photo left -- or below for downloading, too). Write a story or poem based on this photo. Due Feb. 8

20. Package. The UPS truck arrives with a huge box addressed to you. What’s inside? Who’s it from? Alternate: General writing in any genre. Due Feb. 15

21. Eternal night. You wake up one morning and the sun doesn’t rise. It doesn’t rise the next day either. What do you do? Alternate: Silver lining. When bad things happen, how do you recover? Tell a story. Do you have any advice to give? Due Feb. 22

22. Egg. You go outside one day and find a big, purple egg in your backyard. You keep the egg for a few days and then it hatches. What happens? Alternates: General writing in any genre; or  Photo 9 (see photo left -- or below for downloading, too). There’s a dog in the window of this old place. What’s the story? Due March 1

23. Lesson. You are sitting in a park and an old man sits down beside you. At first you are annoyed, but he teaches you something that you had no idea you could do. What is it? Alternate: Rhyming poetry. Write a poem that follows any strict rhyming scheme. Due March 8

24. Outrageous. Write a story that begins, This is the funniest story I’ve ever heard… Alternate: Thirty-five. You wake up and you are suddenly 35 years old. What is your life like now? Due March 15

25. Six words. Create as many six-word stories as you can. Alternates: News story. Write an opinion piece based on a current news story. Take a side and make a persuasive argument – in a maximum of three paragraphs; or General writing in any genre. Due March 22

26. Promise. Write about a promise you made but couldn’t keep. Alternate: Strength. Write about a time when you had to be strong, physically or mentally. Due March 29

27. Mystery. Something very strange just happened, and you don’t know how or why. Write a story. Be succinct. Alternate: Photo 10 (see photo left -- or below for downloading, too). Write about this photo – from any angle. Due April 5

28. Dislike. Write about something that disgusts you, no matter how wrong, distasteful, or awkward it is. Alternate: Fairy tale. Write a fairy tale that includes the phrase, “one thousand peas.” Due April 12

29. Scared. What really scares you? Why? Tell a story about when you confronted it. Alternate: White lie. Write about a little white lie that grows and turns into a bigger lie until you can’t keep up. Due April 19

30. Technology. Your cell phone is broken and you can’t get a new one. It’s your first day without it. What happens? Alternate: Photo 11 (see photo left -- or below for downloading, too). Write about this photo. Due April 26

31. Long ago. Write a journal/diary entry of someone from a different time period — past or future. What was everyday life like? What’s important about this specific entry? Alternate: Being right. Describe a time when you were sure that you were right, but someone else refused to see your view. How was it resolved? Due May 3

32. Music. Choose a piece of music and write a story that flows from it. Tell us what music you were listening to. Alternate: Three wishes. What would you wish for – in three sentences? Due May 10

• 
• 83 of 179
•