6 superb story starters to develop creative writing skills
Creative writing is a brilliant activity for the whole class to take part in, so we've gathered six of the best story starter resources, including animations and even the odd iguana, into one convenient package…
1 | Literacy story starters – Writing Posters Set
Decorate your classroom with good story starters and ideas for getting going with creative writing with this interactive poster set.
There are seven posters in total, each showcasing different creative writing starters you can use to begin a story: Questions, action, dialogue, background information, introducing a character, describing the setting.
Each poster uses an arresting image to suggest a story and these are accompanied by model opening sentences. Plus there are blank word balloon templates for you to display children’s ideas or to add your own.
2 | Adventures of a seafaring iguana
This video introduces us to a man on a boat who crosses paths with an unlikely friend – an iguana treading water – 4 miles out from shore. His scaly companion leaps at the chance of a free ride and stares over the ocean like a grizzled old sea captain as they head on home.
Whilst a touching video, it also provides a great prompt for a creative writing exercise. Students could be tasked to write a short story on how the iguana found his way out to sea, and then share their different versions afterwards.
- Perhaps the iguana stowed away with some pirates?
- Maybe he was washed away in a flood?
- He might even have just fancied a swim. Who knows?
3 | Step aside, Bond…
This clip is an excellent way to spark your students’ imagination. A short animation and voiceover tells pupils they have been accepted into a super secret spy agency operating under the cover of birdwatchers; the writing challenge stems from thinking up details of how this spy organisation operates.
There are plenty of suggestions to help your students get started too, such as:
- What kind of gadgets do they use?
- Do they have a secret base? If so, what does it look like?
- Any evil villains? What’s their master plan?
4 | The oldest message in a bottle
This intriguing video documents the discovery of the world’s oldest message in a bottle by Perth resident Tonya Illman, who stumbled across the missive whilst litter picking on North Wedge Island in 2018.
The 131-year-old note was written by a captain of a German sailing ship, and was thrown from the vessel whilst on a voyage from Cardiff to Indonesia.
After watching the video, it’s likely your students will be curious about what happened to the ship and crew – a thought that would make an exciting writing activity.
What do you think happened to the Captain and his boat?
- Did they get to Indonesia safely?
- Or perhaps they were been stranded on a desert island?
- Worse still, could they have been attacked by a giant octopus?!
5 | Wonderful wingsuiting
This pulse-pounding clip follows wingsuit pilot Sam Laming as he becomes the first person to perform a close proximity wingsuit flight down Mount Snowdon in Wales.
Sam spent five years training for this extreme stunt, which should open up plenty of creative writing opportunities for your class, the task being to place themselves in Sam’s position and describe how they would fare with the momentous endeavour. Below are some ideas to help get them started:
- What’s the weather like? Though it might start off safe and sunny, what would happen if a storm approached?
- How far can you see? Can you spot towns or villages or are you surrounded by hills and fields?
- Is there any wildlife – rabbits hopping below you, or birds flying in formation?
6 | An island story
In this final video, join Mr T on a boat on the ocean. As you look across, you see a mysterious island – and perhaps even treasure. It’s now your pupils’ job to answer one simple question: what happens next?
- Are you going to land on the island and steal the treasure?
- Is there something on the island, keeping the treasure protected?
- Is there someone on the island who needs rescuing?
- Will there be a message in a bottle on the sand?
