Where Do I Start?

Ok, you sit down at your desk and you have to write a paper for school. Usually your mind is running a mile a minute with so many ideas on what to write about, but once you pick up your pencil to write something your mind goes...BLANK...Then the question comes to mind, "Where do I even start?"

Well, I'm here to help! There are tons of ways to brainstorm when it comes to writing. Here are a few helpful ideas.

1. Write from a photograph

When I was in middle school my teacher would post a picture of the ocean, forrest, a speedway or pretty much anything and tell us to observe the picture for a few minutes and just take it all in. After a few minutes he would have us go back to our seats and write down everything we saw in the picture. Then we would take that picture and write a story about it. 

2. Start with a phrase.

Any phrase will do when it come to starting a story. I learned this method when I was in college and had a blast! A lot of the times my professor would have a picture to go along with the phrase, but you don't always need one. Here are some examples of phrases we used.

In the dark of the night...

I looked out the window and saw smoke under the house and...

It's the most wonderful time...

3. Find story prompt generators! 

I found this awesome story starter by scholastic. It comes up with the goofiest prompts and would be really fun to help kids get used to writing. Click on the picture to get to the site!

What have you found successful? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments!