LITMIR.BIZ

      when you’re writing a book report?

      a. listing books by authors you enjoy

      b. wondering how a favorite character would solve your problems

      c. asking your friends about the novels they love

      when you’re writing a hISTORY

      report about colonial America?

      a. watching a documentary about colonial cooking

      b. looking through your notes from history class

      c. chatting with your mom about your family’s trip to

      Colonial Williamsburg

      when you’re writing a haiku

      for your school literary

      magazine?

      a. thinking about your favorite colors, sounds, and tastes

      b. picking out details of an interesting photo or painting

      c. listing words you love because of the way they sound

      As you might have guessed, they’re all right answers!

      Your life, your experiences, and your thoughts are

      the best sources you have for writing ideas. School

      writing assignments usually give you a starting point,

      such as “Tell a story from your summer vacation” or

      “Write a poem about your favorite season.” But most

      assignments leave plenty of room to imagine, research,

      and develop your own ideas.

      Pencil

      Point

      Ideas can come from

      anywhere, anytime.

      Keep a notebook to

      record questions that

      cross your mind, to-do

      lists, words you love,

      conversations you

      overhear, jokes that

      make you laugh, what-

      ever you like! Ideas

      for all your writing—

      whether for school or

      for yourself—can go

      in your notebook.

      TIP: You might want

      to keep a special

      notebook just for the

      exercises and prompts

      in this book.

      Let It Pour!

      Brainstorm your way to a flood of ideas.

      Suppose your teacher starts the school year by giving you this assignment:

      School’s out from June to September, but learning

      happens all year long! Write 3 to 5 paragraphs about

      something you learned over summer vacation.

      Great! You went to summer camp, and you learned some new skills and made

      new friends. Plus, you spent a week with your grandpa, who taught you his

      favorite card games. You’ve got so many possibilities!

      Brainstorming helps you choose a topic from all those possibilities and develop

      ideas for your writing projects. When you brainstorm, you scribble your thoughts

      quickly, without worrying about being neat or writing in complete sentences or

      wondering if they are good ideas. Just write down as many ideas as you can.

      Check out the brainstorming techniques on the next few pages, and try one,

      two, or all three!

      Mind Map

      Write your prompt, question, or topic at the center of a blank page and circle it.

      Then write any ideas inspired by the topic around it. Draw lines to connect the

      ideas to your topic—and to each other when they relate in some way.

      hit list

      Brainstorm ideas in the form of a list. Start by writing your topic at the top of

      the paper. Then divide the paper into three or four areas.

      Next, start to brainstorm the main points or ideas you might want to explore,

      putting one idea at the top of each area you marked off. Leave plenty of room

      below each of those ideas to brainstorm and list your supporting points.

      Learning to Canoe

      MAIN IDEA 1: summer camp

      -really wanted to go

      -first time, needed tons of supplies

      -didn’t know girls in cabin

      MAIN IDEA 2: canoe lessons

      -embarrassed because everyone

      else knew what to do

      -DON’T STAND UP!

      -different strokes

      MAIN IDEA 3: how I did it

      -practice

      -working with team

      -Eagle Island!

      Pencil

      Point

      Boost your brainstorming

      by setting a timer for 5 or

      10 minutes. Keep writing

      ideas until the timer

      beeps—without judging!

      Just write down anything

      that comes to mind as fast

      as you can. When you’re

      done, look for the best

      ideas. There are some gold

      nuggets in there!

      question Yourself

      Take a look at your topic, and think about the basic questions you want to answer

      in your writing:

      Brainstorm answers (when you know them) and think of new questions, too.

      Learning to Canoe

      WHAT? learning to canoe

      WHO? me, along with summer camp

      friends

      WHERE? Camp Woodsy, on the lake

      WHEN? this summer

      WHY? wanted

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