Come explore and discover our fabulous list of quick writing prompts— Yes, we love to spark the imaginations of your students and writers and would love to help you jumpstart their next quick write project! Read on to discover how. I think you’ll be glad you did!

Quick and short — or not — any writer will tell you that getting started is often one of the hardest parts of writing.
Plus, for kids who are inexperienced or who lack confidence in their writing, getting started can be even more of a challenge.
Fortunately…
A good, quick writing prompt is one of the best and simplest ways to kick-start creativity and get the inspiration flowing!
You see…
A Quick & Short Piece of Writing of Your Own Choosing
This all-new list of quick write prompts for students is designed to help kids who are feeling stuck move past their writer’s blocks.
Best of all…
These prompts cover a variety of topics and use several methods to help students dive right into their newest pieces of writing.
While some questions call for reflection and self-analysis, others focus on description, hypothetical dreams, and imagination. However, they all share one important trait in common: each prompt is easy to read and begin answering immediately.
Hooray for 34 Excellent & Quick Writing Prompts
- What does the city sound like at night?
- What is the coolest thing that can be found in nature?
- How can you tell whether or not someone will be a good friend?
- Write about a time when you told a lie that you shouldn’t have.
- Have you ever been embarrassed by something your family did? Why or why not?
- Write about something you are excited to do when you get to college.
- Do you ever feel like your moods change with the season? Why or why not?
- What is the best thing you’ve ever tasted? Would you eat it every day if you could?
- Write about a time when you felt like you could do anything.
- In what ways have you changed over the past five years?
- What is the most unusual thing you’ve ever seen?
- What is your favorite thing about yourself? Why?
- What memory from your childhood stands out most clearly in your mind?
- Write about a time when you witnessed something unfair.
- What is the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?
- What is your favorite place in the world? What makes it so special? How do you feel when you go there?
- Are you looking forward to high school? Why or why not?
- Who is the funniest person you know? Describe a time when he or she made you laugh.
- Would you rather be rich or famous? Why?
- Write about the person in your family whom you have the most in common with.
- What happens inside the school building at night? Are there any movements? Any sounds?
- If you could make up your own holiday, what would you celebrate? How would you mark the day?
- Have you ever gone somewhere where you didn’t quite fit in? Write about your experience.
- Write about your favorite family tradition.
- Would you rather live in a small town or a big city? Why?
- If you had to give up one of your senses, which one would you be most willing to do without? How would you cope without it?
- Write about something that always brings a smile to your face.
- What do you like most about your physical appearance? Why?
- Write an alternate ending to a story of your choice.
- If you could change one thing about school, what would it be? Why?
- Write about a time when you wore a ridiculous outfit.
- Do you wish you had more siblings? Why or why not?
- What is your least favorite chore? Why?
- Do you think you receive too much, too little, or just enough homework? Write a persuasive argument defending your position.
Use these writing prompts in your lesson today. Just have your writers grab a notebook. Then, get those creative juices flowing now by using at least one of these 34 quick writing prompts anytime with your students. (Do this especially when they say that they don’t know what to write about—or when they simply need a little bit of extra creativity.)
Ok… Get those pens in hand and have some writing fun now. Enjoy!
Best Practices to Build Students’ Confidence
The following is an excerpt from “The Quickwrite Handbook 100 Mentor Texts to Jumpstart Your Students’ Thinking and Writing” by Linda Rief.
The Benefits of Quickwrites
Writing and teaching writing can be intimidating. It is hard work, and it takes time. Quickwrites offer an easy and manageable writing experience that helps both students and teachers find their voices and develop their confidence, as they discover that they have important things to say. This quick exercise pulls words out of the writer’s mind, and I am always surprised at the precision of language, level of depth and detail, and clarity of focus I hear when a student reads a three-minute quickwrite out loud. When the models for quickwrites are compelling and carefully chosen, students are able to focus closely and write clearly.
Over the years of using these invitations to write with students in my classroom and with teachers in workshops and courses, I’ve discovered so many of their benefits:
Quickwrites bring out the writer. They:
• give students ideas and frames for their writing so that they are not
working in a void.
• focus students’ attention and stimulate their thinking at the beginning of a class.
• provide and capture the seeds of ideas for more expanded pieces.
• encourage writing about important ideas, chosen to make us think and feel as
we learn.
• give students choices about what they write, how they write, and what
works and does not work.
• help students focus on one subject in great detail by giving them examples
filled with sensory detail.
• introduce students to a variety of stylistic devices and craft lessons they
might try in their writing.Quickwrites build students’ confidence. They:
• offer surprise when students discover that they didn’t realize how much
they knew, or what they were thinking, until they began writing.
• build confidence when students see the quality of their writing.
• make writing accessible to all students, even those who struggle the most
with words and ideas, because quickwrites are short, quick, non-threatening, and directed toward a specific task.Quickwrites develop fluency. They:
• keep students writing several times a week.
• keep students writing beyond the quickwrite when they find themselves
committed to a topic that matters to them.
• offer ongoing practice for writing in sensible, realistic, and meaningful
ways on demand or in timed situations.Quickwrites bring out the reader. They:
• teach students to become better readers as they hear, see, and craft language.
• teach students critical reading as they choose significant lines, and then
draft and reconsider their ideas in the clearest ways.
• provide examples of fine, compelling writing from their peers, their teacher,
and professional writers.
• introduce students to a variety of writers: poets, essayists, and fiction and
nonfiction writers.Quickwrites help teachers grow as writers. They
• allow us time to write for two to three minutes each class period.
• help us find ideas for writing and our voices as writers.
• clarify our understanding of the difficulty of the task we are asking students to complete, because we’re doing what we’ve asked them to do.
Download a free 7-page sample of Quickwrites in PDF format now.
There is no doubt that a quick write practice will do wonders to help improve your student understanding of this particular style of writing. Try these ideas and resources today. I think you’ll be glad you did!
Whether your students are interested in journal prompts for a journal entry, fiction writing prompts, story ideas, poetry, romance, comedy, or adventure stories, we have creative writing prompts for all genres of writing – and MORE!
Inspiration can be gleaned from real life, movies, their favorite poem, social media posts, or even video games! Working writing into the daily routine, either at school or on their own, can become a fun habit and will improve writing skills for all ages and grade levels.
Until next time, write on…
If you enjoyed these Quick Writing Prompts for Middle School Students,
please share them on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Pinterest.
I appreciate it!
Sincerely,
Jill
journalbuddies.com
creator and curator
