At first, the idea of Creative Writing activities suitable for high school might cause your brain to crash. I think we’re used to thinking of Creative Writing as more of an elementary school unit when in reality, Creative Writing can be even more fun with older students!
Teaching creative writing to high school students can be both exciting and intimidating. Some students enter your creative writing class bubbling with ideas, while others (especially reluctant writers) freeze when faced with a blank piece of paper.
But don’t worry! If you’re freezing up trying to think of fun and meaningful Creative Writing activities, I’ve got you.
You can help every student discover the fun way the written word can become a creative outlet. Below are 13 tried-and-true activities—many pulled directly from my High School Creative Writing Curriculum—that build writing skills, foster students’ creativity, and leave a lasting impression.
And, if you need an entire Creative Writing class, you can grab that complete, done-for-you 9-Week Creative Writing Class right here!
Creative Writing Activities #1: Erasure Poems
Erasure poems are a category of poems in which poetry is created from existing text. They blend visual arts and poetry.
The most well-known variations of erasure poems are probably blackout poetry and found poetry. These are great for getting students to warm up to writing because it doesn’t actually require them to write!
But it does get them thinking about poetry in a new way and examining the beauty of words. Plus, it’s just hands-on fun for a Creative Writing class or unit that can be a lot of plain pen-and-paper work.
You can get a resource for teaching both of these types of poems right here.
Creative Writing Activities for High School #2: Flash Fiction Challenges
What is flash fiction? It’s fiction with a very short and strict word count. It’s the perfect way to help students build writing endurance, challenge them to use precise and concise diction, and just get them writing.
Give students a strict word limit (100–500 words), and see how they handle character development and key elements of plot in a tiny space. These short stories are quick to grade and a fun activity for creative writing clubs, too.
My favorite variation of flash fiction is the two-sentence horror story.
You can learn more about using the two-sentence horror story in class in this blog post.
Or you can grab a FREE two-sentence horror story activity right here!
Creative Writing Activities for High School #3: Journal Writing
Journal writing and Creative Writing go hand in hand, right?
You can use journal writing as a daily warm-up or as a once-a-week activity.
Use writing prompts or story starters to get students writing. (You could even make a Mad Libs-style prompt.) Make sure they know there’s no pressure to write perfectly, finish their work, or even write coherently!
Funny or silly writing prompts are always a hit (like having students write from the perspective of an inanimate object, create a diary entry of a mythical creature, or describe goofy products).
But they can also be used to offer unique challenges (write a piece of historical fiction,
You can get nine weeks’ worth of editable Creative Writing prompts right here. They’ll save you from staring at your screen blankly five minutes before class begins every day!
Creative Writing Activities for High School #4: Teach Literary Terms
You can weave literary terms throughout your entire Creative Writing class–and you should!
But I also like to start with a short figurative language unit to front-load the most important and most used terms.
In my Figurative Language Mini-unit (which you can get here), I teach ten different literary terms, have students do a figurative language scavenger hunt, assign students a sensory writing activity, and more.
Literary terms are must-have knowledge for any young writer; make sure you build some direct instruction into your class!
(And if you’re required to give a final exam, a literary terms test like this one can be a practical option.)
Creative Writing Activities for High School #5: Quick Story Chain
Story chains are a great way for students to let loose, collaborate, and just have fun writing.
In small groups, have students each write one paragraph of a quick story before passing it to the next student. The results are often hilarious—and it’s a great way to break writer’s block.
I liked to have students pass stories around the whole classroom while writing only one sentence at a time. Try each variation and see what crazy stories your class creates!
I like having this idea in my back pocket for when there’s a weird 10-15 minutes left in a class. You don’t need any supplies beyond paper and pencil.
Creative Writing Activities for High School #6: Skill-building Minilessons
Creative Writing classes shouldn’t just be fun activities and different writing tasks. At some point, you need to actually teach Creative Writing skills.
I prefer to do this using a minilesson format: teach a short lesson, then give students a short writing task that lets them practice the concept.
Or, you can grab a collection of no-prep Creative Writing Minilessons right here!
I tried to make the Creative Writing exercises hands-on or collaborative so students aren’t just sitting still and writing every class period.
Creative Writing Activities for High School #7: Teach Different Types of Writing
Some Creative Writing classes are really niche–like a fantasy writing class. But most aren’t. If you’re teaching a generalized Creative Writing class, consider covering different types of writing.
You could talk about different genres (horror, comedy, sci-fi, etc.) and have students try out different ones.
I like to cover different poetry formats (odes, haikus, etc.) because poetry is more accessible (i.e. shorter) for reluctant writers. You could also talk about different types of poetry (free verse, slam poetry, etc.).
If you need lessons that cover different types of poems, you can grab a bunch right here!
Creative Writing Activities for High School #8: Poem of the Week
Studying a Poem of the Week is a cheat code, honestly!
Poem of the Week activities do it all: expose students to new poems and authors, offer analysis practice, teach new literary terms, and serve as mentor texts for original writing.
Here’s how I did Poem of the Week Activities:
Each week, we’d have a different Poem of the Week. Students would do one analysis task (explain a metaphor, find alliteration, etc.) as a daily bell ringer at the start of class. On Mondays, I’d introduce the poem and talk a little bit about the author.
On Fridays, after we’ve studied the poem and analyzed it fully, students would use it as a mentor text to write their own. So, if we had studied a sonnet, students might be challenged to now write their own sonnet.
You can get nine weeks’ worth of Poem of the Week activities right here!
Creative Writing Activities for High School #9: Fairy Tale Retellings
If you need a bigger writing project or summative assessment, having students rewrite a fairy tale is a perfect choice!
Have students reimagine fairy tales like The Little Mermaid or Cinderella. Encourage them to add magical creatures, set the story in real life, or write from the unique perspective of a side character.
Because students already know the basic plot points of the story, they won’t face as much writer’s block.
That means, instead of spending classroom time coming up with a story, they can jump right into more nuanced skills like characterization and crafting dialogue. This is the perfect project for struggling writers because the scaffolding is already built in!
If you want to learn more about doing a Fairy Tale retelling project, check out this blog post.
Creative Writing Activities for High School #10: Author Study Project
Talk about differentiation! If you want a project that gives students a lot of choice, try an author study.
I go into more details about doing an author study in this blog post, but the gist is that you’ll have students choose an author to study.
They’ll read a few of their works and identify essential elements of that author’s style. Then, your students will try to emulate that author’s style in a brand new, unique piece of writing.
If you’re looking for a more challenging Creative Writing activity for older students, this is it! You can grab this project ready to go right here!
Creative Writing Activities for High School #11: Create a Graphic Novel or Comic Strip
This is another great way to combine writing with visual arts in your classroom: have students turn one of their stories into a comic book.
There are, of course, all kinds of creative ways to implement this idea. If you want one that’s no-prep, you can grab my Comic Book Memoir Project right here.
With this resource, students write short creative nonfiction pieces inspired by their own lives. Then, they tell the story in a comic strip format.
If you don’t want students to create comic books as a big project, you could offer comic book strip templates for brainstorming, as a starting point, or to help students map out new ideas for stories.
You could even spend a day examining comics or graphic novels as a writing genre.
Creative Writing Activities for High School #12: Write a Children’s Book
Students write and illustrate their own children’s book aimed at younger students. This creative writing project makes them consider language skills, clarity, and student choice in a new light.
If possible, you could even pair with an elementary teacher and have your students read their original stories to a classroom of younger writers. Nothing motivates young writers like an authentic audience!
Creative Writing Activities for High School #13: Use Photos as Inspiration
You can take this idea and use it to spark creativity with nearly any kind of fiction writing.
In my Figurative Language Photo Writing Project, I have students pick an image of a setting. Then, they must practice their figurative language skills to describe that setting.
You could give students historical photos with no context, and ask them to write historical fiction. Or give them images of creepy places as inspiration for a horror story.
If you have any kind of narrative writing unit plan, consider using photos as inspiration to help spur your students’ creative thinking.
Final Thoughts
There’s no single formula for teaching creative writing, but offering a variety of creative writing activities high school students can engage with is an important part of building confidence and excitement. Whether it’s erasure poems, a fairy tale retelling, or a children’s book project, these fun activities help students develop critical thinking, language skills, and a deeper appreciation of the written word.
If you’d like sequenced lesson plans, journal prompts, and creative writing projects ready to go, check out my High School Creative Writing Curriculum. It’s packed with new exercises that will keep your students writing on a regular basis—and save you planning time!