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Summer is here, and school is out. Why not use some of your extra free time to work on a writing project? By writing a little each day, you could end the summer with an entire collection of poems, short stories, essays, journal entries, or even the first draft of a novel. Writing regularly is one of the best ways to improve as a writer. Doing the same thing over and over, however, can be a sure path to boredom.

Whether you are drafting a middle-grade novel, helping a young writer find their voice, or simply trying to make writing feel joyful again, flexibility and exploration are key. With that in mind, below are five creative writing exercises to bring some play into your own writing and into the work of the young writers in your life.

1. Switch up the genre or form

We all tend to have genres and forms that feel most comfortable. That does not mean, however, that we always need to write in that vein.

Do you typically write prose? Try a poem, a verse novel scene, a list poem, or a haiku. I regularly participate in #HaikuSaturday on X and Bluesky and love the supportive community. You may want to give it a try. Do you typically write fiction? Spend 20 minutes writing creative non-fiction, a personal essay, or a journal entry. If you usually write serious scenes, try humor. If you usually write realistic fiction, try a fantasy premise.

Writing outside your comfort zone can freshen up your practice. It can also help you acquire and strengthen skills that you can use in your main work. For example, even though I write primarily in prose, I spent years studying and practicing poetry. As a result, I use poetic techniques in everything I write.

Try this with young writers: Ask them to retell a favorite summer memory three ways—as a poem, a journal entry, and a one-page story.

2. Try out a new craft element

Take a look at your current read, or a book that inspires your writing project, and pick one or two writing techniques used by authors you admire. Study how the author uses the technique in the work. Then try it out in your draft or current project—perhaps in just one scene or on just one page.

You might study how an author begins a chapter, builds suspense, reveals character through dialogue, uses setting, or ends a scene on a question. Emulation is a great way to break through a writing rut and grow in your craft.

Try this with young writers: Read the opening paragraph of a favorite middle-grade novel. Then invite them to write a new opening using the same kind of feeling, whether mysterious, funny, fast-paced, quiet, or surprising.

3. Re-read your favorites

Whether they are your favorites in the genre in which you are writing or just your overall favorite books, revisiting books that have shaped you as a writer and reader is important. This time, read with two sets of eyes: reader eyes and writer eyes.

What techniques do you find especially effective in connecting with you as a reader? How does the author make you care about the main character? Where do you laugh, worry, wonder, or turn the page faster? How can you borrow from those techniques in your own work?

This is an especially useful practice if you are feeling lost or stuck. Favorite books can remind us why we wanted to write in the first place.

Try this with young writers: Ask them to choose one favorite scene and explain why it works. Then challenge them to write a scene that creates a similar feeling without copying the plot.

4. Go on some observation adventures

Pulling from lived experiences, overheard conversations, and other observations is a classic writing tip, but it is easy to forget how much material is waiting just outside our doors.

Go outside to a park, a mall, a restaurant, a library, a farmer’s market, a ball field, or wherever your curiosity leads you, and take a notebook with you. Write down as many observations as possible, no matter how obvious or random. Notice sounds, smells, gestures, snippets of conversation, clothing, weather, signs, and small conflicts. Even ten minutes in your neighborhood is enough to fuel an abundance of ideas.

This is a great way to jumpstart your creativity on days when you are feeling restless or uninspired.

Try this with young writers: Challenge them to write down ten things they notice, then choose three and turn them into the beginning of a story.

5. Change point of view

No matter what genre you are writing, perspective is key. Try rewriting your current project, or a part of it, from a different perspective—or even more than one.

If you feel as though you need to get to know a character more, rewriting a scene from that character’s point of view can reveal new things about them. If you feel as though a scene isn’t working, this exercise can send it in a new direction. If you feel as though the tone of your piece is flat or ineffective, a new perspective can drastically change that.

For middle-grade writers, this can be especially helpful. How is the scene viewed from the point of view of the protagonist? What about the point of view of the best friend? What about the point of view of the younger sibling? What about the point of view of the adult who misunderstands everything? Don’t be afraid to play with this core element.

Try this with young writers: Challenge them to rewrite a familiar fairy tale or family story from the point of view of a side character, pet, villain, or object.

Wherever your writing is taking you right now, I hope these ideas can bring some exploration and fun into your process. By the end of the summer, you and the young writers in your life may have a notebook full of poems, stories, scenes, characters, questions, story sparks, and maybe even the start of a novel. Even better, you may have rediscovered the joy of writing for the fun of it.