6 Must-Haves for Aspiring Writers
Are you the kinda kid who LIVES for English class? Who can’t get enough of writing essays and stories and poems? A total bookworm who loves reading and trying to write your own versions of your favorite books? Someone who fills up journal after journal of your innermost thoughts and feelings? We totally feel you – and that’s why we put together a list of awesome must-have books and products for people just like YOU! These 6 must-haves will help get your creative juices flowing and cure any writers block that may try to stand in your way!
6 Must-Haves for Aspiring Writers
“Leap Write In” or “Rip the Page” by Karen Benke:
“Leap Write In” and “Rip The Page” are two creative writing workbooks that give you tips and advice on how to improve your writing, as well as really fun and interesting prompts and other activities to keep your creative juices flowing. One of the most important things to remember as an aspiring writer is NEVER STOP WRITING! Even if you think you can’t do it or you think whatever you write isn’t any good, you can’t give up. Remember, your favorite authors, poets, screenwriters, and even writers of video game dialogue all had to start somewhere – and so do you.
“Rip the Page” is our personal favorite, it’s a little more fun, especially for a more casual writer or someone who’s just starting out. “Leap Write In” is great as well, but we recommend it for someone who’s a little more seasoned. Both books are great for writing practice, inspiring you to write about new topics you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise, helping you push past ideas that have got you stumped, and cheer you on the entire way through.
Story Cubes or Story Time Dice:
Story Cubes by GameWright and Story Time Dice by Imagination Generation are a really fun way to get inspired. You can use these dice alone in order to whip up your next big idea or use them with friends to come up with a wild, over the top story together. Each of the dice have symbols on them, and you use the symbols from each roll of the dice to build up your characters, scenes, and plot. Both Story Cubes and Story Time Dice have different versions and expansion packs ranging from scary stories to character building to fairy tales! No matter what you like to write, there’s probably a dice set for you.
“Q&A a Day for Kids: A 3 Year Journal” or “Q&A a Day for Me: A 3-Year Journal for Teens” by Betsy Franco:
Just because you’re into writing stories or poems, doesn’t mean you can’t and shouldn’t use a journal. Any writing practice is good practice, and creative journals help you write and explore yourself and your experiences in a way you likely wouldn’t think of if you were just keeping a regular journal.
“Q&A a Day” helps you easily keep a journal by telling you exactly what to write about. What’s something that made you laugh today? Are you a risk taker? What do you like to do with your friends? It asks you simple questions that you can easily answer in just a few sentences. When you’re done, you’ll have filled up every page and have a fully documented history of the past 3 years of your life. We love journals like this because they helps keep you motivated to write at least a little something every day.
Write down all your thoughts, feelings, and observations you have each day. Write down characteristics you notice in others, Harriet the Spy style. Does your math teacher have a list and chew her food in a really unique way? Is there a girl in your class who’s always wearing nothing but animal sweaters? Something that doesn’t seem important at the time may be the exact thing you pull from for a future story. That animal sweater wearing girl you don’t know that well might end up being the main character in your best-seller.
“The Amazing Story Generator” by Jay Sacher:
We love anything that keeps you writing, especially if it gets you writing about topics and characters you might not normally write about. Trying new topics helps you figure out what you’re great at writing about and what you kind of stink at. If you’re a kid that usually writes fantasy, you might discover that mysteries are actually your calling when you use something like “The Amazing Story Generator” for practice. This flip book gets your mind working and helps put an end to your writers block by handing you situations, characters, and events to inspire your next great story in a flip book format so you can mix and match as much as you want. We love how silly and fun the ideas are, and the possibilities are pretty much endless.
“642 Things to Write About: Young Writers Edition” by 826 Valencia:
This is one of our personal favorites. It’s full of really fun and creative prompts, like “Write a To-Do List for a Villain” or “Two people get stuck on a rollercoaster together, what do they talk about?” They’re great ideas to keep the creative juices flowing in your brain. It’s not all about writing something long or detailed, but to keep your creative side in constant motion. They refer to this book as a “playground for your mind”, and we agree. It helps steer your mind to places it might not have thought to go. It’s a great little book to carry around with you in your bag and whip out whenever you’re feeling bored or uninspired.
Books, Books, and More Books!
Want to be a writer? Read as many books as you possible can from all different authors in all different genres. It’ll give you an idea of how other people out in the world are writing, how they describe certain moments, the types of details they chose to include when writing about a person, and you’ll get to experience all different writing styles. Have a favorite book? Try to write a chapter or two in the same style and voice as the author used in the book. Reading and mimicking other authors will help you find your your own unique voice.
Need some recommendations on things to read? Visit our Books section! We post our favorite books pretty much every week (and sometimes even more often than that.)
Writing not your thing? We made a list just like this one for Aspiring Fashion Designers, too!
