Once a child has the creativity to come up with a story on their own, but it is lacking in length and depth, try having them make their stories more complex by adding a problem and a resolution. Inexperienced writers generally don’t make their stories very deep, probably because they want to get the writing over with, but also, they may not know how to do it. If a student writes a short story without any depth, what I usually do is ask them, “What if….?. What if it’s too hot inside the spaceship and the snowman starts to melt? What if the country ran out of food while you are the President?” Students usually take no issue with solving problems in their story, and they think it’s really fun! Feel free to give them plenty of prompts at first and you will notice that they may not need them after a period of time.
In order for the student to gain independence in complex writing, I will start to ask what a problem in the story could be before the student begins to write.For example, if a student is writing about being a superhero, I would ask, “Who is the villain or bad guy and what superpowers do they have? How will you save people from them?” This aides them in the brainstorming process and allows them to feel confident in their own abilities.
As always, point out their good writing with lots of praise, even down to their word choice. Kids are more apt to write more and write well when they feel that the person reading it will enjoy it and notice how much effort went into it. And remember, that spelling will improve with practice, so don’t be too anxious over misspelled words.
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