about YWP

Writing PromPts for neWsPaPer series

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. Write a poem based on the photo below. Due Sept. 21
Photo 3 Karlo Fresl/Essex High School 2011

September - December 2012

Imagine an anecdote of you using that superpower. Due Nov. 16 Ideal being. What do you think makes someone the ideal person? What is the most important characteristic that a person must have? Alternates: Change. Write to the president of a company about a product that you think must be changed, real or fictional; or Photo 5. Write a story or poem based on the photo below. Due Nov. 23

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Photo 1 Caitria Sands/ Essex High School 2011

Elevator. Youre 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. Whats the worst habit youre willing to admit to? Write about the great lengths you go to to break this habit. Due Sept. 28

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. Dont describe the scene; focus on your own response, your action or inaction; or Photo 2. Use the photo below to spark your imagination and write in any genre. Due Oct. 5

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 clichs 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 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 below (taken in Dummerston, Vermont in 1941) has something to say. What is it? Due Nov. 9

Alone. Write a piece that begins with the following line: I stood at the window, watching the red tail lights disappear... Try to write this in prose; keep it short. 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

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Photo 5 Anna Mechler/Essex High School 2011

Object. An inanimate object comes alive and tells you how it really feels. Describe the object and the conversation. Try choosing an object that helps define you. Alternate: Excuse. Create the wildest excuse you can think of for why you didnt do something, why you were so late, why you cant go. It must stretch the imagination yet still remain credible. Make your case. Your future depends on it. Due Dec. 7 Reflection. What is something you wish youd been told when you were five years old? Why do you think its important? Write about how you think it would have changed or helped you. Alternate: Photo 6. Use the photo below of Mad River Glen to write about winter in Vermont. Due Dec. 14

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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

Young Writers Project is an independent nonprofit that engages students to write, helps them improve and connects them with authentic audiences through youngwritersproject.org, the Newspaper Series and the Schools Project, a comprehensive online classroom and training program that works with teachers to help students develop their writing and digital literacy skills. Students K-12 are encouraged to participate in YWP by submitting best work done in class or outside of school, and by responding to these weekly prompts. With the help of a team of students and volunteer readers, we select the top submissions from hundreds of entries for publication here and in 20 other newspapers and on VPR.net. How to post: Start an account on youngwritersproject.org; log in; click Write to create a blog; fill in the title and body of the work and give it a genre tag. For publication in the Newspaper Series, click newspaper entry under the question Newspaper Submission? and choose the prompt you are writing for. Under the prompts, fill in name, school and grade. Finally, click Save. Students are also encouraged to create a blog to upload photos and scanned art. Find out more at youngwritersproject.org; and for the Schools Project, go to ywpschools.net or contact Geoff Gevalt at (802) 3249537. Support: YWP is supported by this newspaper, and foundations, businesses and individuals who recognize the power and value of writing. Special thanks this week to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters

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

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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 youre 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

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Photo 2 Becca LeBlanc/Essex High School 2011

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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. Whats one thing you absolutely could not live without? Why?; or I believeStart a piece with the words, I believe. Due Jan. 11 Youll find more prompts on youngwritersproject.org Young Writers Project is on VPr.net eVerY Week!

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PreVieW of PromPts for 2013

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. What happened or is about to happen in the photo, above right? Due Oct. 19

Light/Darkness. Use the idea of extreme contrast in any way youd 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 for yourself and why?

Photo 4 Jack Delano/Library of Congress 1941

Photo 6 Jet Lowe/Library of Congress 2006

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