Kid struggles with writing stories

[Anonymous]

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?

[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?

I don't find this unusual. I assume you mean making up a story.

How about starting by doing this at home without writing. Pretend play. Or, if he is older, make up stories about people. A friend and I used to do this when we went out to dinner together--we would make up stories about people we saw. Is it his daughter or his girlfriend? That type of thing. Where are they from? Another friend joined us when we were doing this once, and she thought we were nuts.

It may sound stupid, but it might help.

But, on a more practical plane, how about giving him a prompt. Don't make him write a long story--just a sentence or two.

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

I disagree. These are children. Generating stories is a fundamental human capacity. Everything is not about a specific skill that you will use in a job--especially in elementary school. Children in ES also learn to write letters, to write reports on topics using sources, to write poetry and other forms. Generating a fiction story helps kids think about life and stories.

Help DC map out a story on a topic of interest to him. He might think it has to come out sentence-by-sentence which is very hard vs. developing an interesting set of ideas and then writing a story that fleshes them out. Start with his interests or fiction books he enjoyed reading. Talk through simple story structure-- plot--what is the problem, how is it resolved; characters--what are they like, what do they want, what problems are they facing in this story and how do they respond.

Say he likes sports, have him think of some of the problems, interesting situations he has faced or thinks others have faced while playing sports (e.g. desire to cheat when no one is looking, not being as good as everyone else, losing a big game, whatever). Then map out a primary character who is facing that problem and how they might think or act and what would happen to them. Or start with a premise--if he likes marine biology, what would a civilization of creatures in a tide pool be like--what tensions would they face, what personalities might there be, what big events might shape their experience (a wave brings new creatures in and upsets their lives). The point is in writing a story the possibilities are wide open and it's important to learn how to make choices when the possibilities are wide open, but it's hard. So help him learn to make choices that will interest him.

[Anonymous]

Can he narrate a story? Is the problem that he’s not very creative or that he has trouble with the actual writing? How is his non-fiction writing? Some kids prefer non-fictional writing. Maybe have him work on news stories, book reviews, and autobiographical narratives.

[Anonymous]

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.

[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.

Agree totally. I write and edit for a living and no way would I have been able to write a decent story in school.

[Anonymous]

Go to a restaurant. Sit down and while waiting for the meal to arrive look over at another table having a conversation. Have your child play the role of one person and you the other and 'speak' the conversation you are seeing, making up the words and subject. Can be a bit of fun.

[Anonymous]

Has he used any graphic organizers? Does he do better if he dictates?

[Anonymous]

My kid has the same issue. No creativity whatsoever though a good student overall. How old is he? Mine's only in 3rd grade so I hope it'll improve...

[Anonymous]

This was an impossible task for my son in elementary school. By 8th grade he was able to put his wild ideas on paper and by high school we was a darn good writer.

As other have said, at this young age, you need to provide him story prompts and a structure to follow. SIWBSTF is good (actually write it out on a page with lots of white space and let him brainstorm on it - no need to do it in order, for my kids setting is easier to start with than main character), and graphic organizers work for a lot of kids too.

[Anonymous]

Tell him to imagine he is writing the next great video game.

[Anonymous]

How old is your child?

[Anonymous]

Show him a funny picture and have him write a paragraph about it.