Kid struggles with writing stories

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:who cares? It's not an important skill. As a writer, i don't know why they emphasize creative writing so much now.

Ugh, I agree. I’m the op and still struggle to make up story. I write for a living, but not things I make up. I will try to chill out. He is failing his school project though.

NP. Practice improv with him. Play the word game, go back and forth.

You: potato
Him: hot
You: dog
Him: park
You: car

Try to get him to create a sentence out of the words you both used. The car was hot inside, so the man decided to park it by a tree, and take his dog for a walk. His potato chips were left in the car. Blah blah blah

The point is to build confidence in creativity. He’s young so just let him know there is no wrong way to do this when it comes to creativity in your mind. It’s a form of art, and it will look different with everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have him think of the story in terms of SIWBSTF --
Somebody (his main character) In (the setting) Wanted/But (the problem) So (what main character started to do to solve problem) Then (response to main character) Finally (how story is resolved). I find this helps a lot.

PP here, and this is great too. Add this structure to his good wild and wacky improv/brainstorming and maybe he will become motivated about the assignment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He reads well and does well on social studies and other writing required tests, but he can’t write a story to save his life. My dh thinks he’s just lazy, but I think it could be more. What could it be and how would I find out?

Does he read stories that can furnish his imagination such as fairy tales, mythology, fables, Bible stories? He may need some input (stories) before any output can be expected.

[Anonymous]

Look at IEW. They have some great programs for reluctant writers.