Notes from the Inkpot
Writing, teaching, creating - one ink-stained idea at a time.
70 Fantasy Writing Prompts for Teens
Let students build magical worlds and unforgettable characters with these 70 fantasy writing prompts for teens. From enchanted forests and forgotten prophecies to mysterious maps and celestial mirrors, this collection includes story starters, titles, character ideas, setting inspiration, and stunning visual prompts to spark imagination in any classroom.
Save Hours Planning Creative Writing Units with Daily Prompts
Tired of reinventing the wheel for every creative writing lesson? Daily prompts offer a flexible, low-prep way to boost engagement, sharpen skills, and save you hours of planning. Here's how to build an entire unit around them, and where to grab your first month of prompts for free.
70 Horror Creative Writing Prompts for Teens: Story Starters, Titles, Characters, Settings & Visual Ideas
Looking for horror writing prompts that go beyond haunted houses and jump scares?
This post includes 70+ eerie and original ideas designed to help teen writers build atmosphere, suspense, and unforgettable stories. Perfect for creative writing units, Halloween lessons, or students who love the strange and uncanny.
70 Dystopian Writing Prompts for Teen Writers
Looking for dystopian writing prompts that actually get teens thinking? This post goes way beyond “write about a world with no rules.” You’ll find story ideas, eerie titles, opening and closing lines, character inspiration, settings, and high-impact picture prompts. Everything you need to help students build powerful dystopian narratives from the ground up.
The Back-to-School Writing Task That Helps Me Understand Every Student
One simple writing task. That’s all it takes to start building real relationships with your students. Here’s the first-week activity I always use to understand who’s in front of me, and why it works year after year.
The Atlas of Lost Places: A Free Creative Writing Resource to Unlock Student Imagination
Want to see how I use daily writing prompts in the classroom? The Atlas of Lost Places is a free 7-day resource that blends eerie images, rich prompts, and flexible teaching tips. It’s a sneak peek into my full daily writing prompt subscription launching in August—and it’s designed to actually get students writing.
Why Macbeth Is the Only Shakespeare Play I’ll Never Get Sick Of
I’ve taught Macbeth more times than I can count, and somehow, I still look forward to it. There’s just something about the witches, the guilt, the madness. In this post, I’m sharing why Macbeth is the one Shakespeare play I’ll never get sick of—plus some of my favourite creative writing tasks and classroom stories along the way.
70 Sci-Fi Writing Prompts for Teens: Ideas, Openings, and Visual Starters for the English Classroom
Looking for sci-fi writing prompts that actually work with teens? This post goes beyond aliens and spaceships. You’ll find story starters, eerie opening lines, character ideas, atmospheric settings, and picture prompts. all designed to help students write science fiction with substance.
What Writing Taught Me About My Own Emotions (And How It Can Help Students Too)
Writing has always helped me untangle what’s going on in my own head, and it can do the same for students. In this post, I’m sharing how I teach personal narrative early in the year, why it’s linked to SEL, and how writing has helped me understand myself better.
What I Tell My Students During Exam Season (When They're Anxious, Fed Up, or Just Done)
It’s exam season, and students are feeling everything - nerves, bravado, burnout. In this post, I’m sharing what I tell mine before and after the paper, including the one phrase I never say, and the exam story I retell every year. If you’re teaching through GCSEs right now, this one’s for you.
How to Teach English Language Skills Using Literature Texts (Free Prompts Included)
Combine language and literature in a meaningful way with chapter-by-chapter creative writing prompts. This post explores how you can build writing skills while deepening students’ understanding of the texts you teach - plus, you’ll find lots of free resources to download and try right away.
10 Creative Writing Challenges to Stretch Your Imagination
Looking for ways to spark fresh ideas? These 10 creative writing challenges are perfect for classrooms, workshops, or solo writing sessions. From genre mashups to story reversals, each quick challenge helps stretch imagination, build skills, and unlock unexpected stories.
Teaching 1984: Activities, Experiments, and Real-World Connections
Teaching 1984 isn’t just about exploring a dystopian novel, it’s about showing students how power, control, and surveillance shape the world around them. In this post, I’m sharing how a real-world classroom experiment helped my students experience Orwell’s warnings firsthand, plus practical strategies for breaking down the novel’s complex themes in an engaging, accessible way.
Download a Free Daily Writing Prompt for Your Students (Plus 31 Bonus Prompts Inside)
Download a free daily writing prompt to spark creativity in your classroom - plus get 31 bonus prompts when you join the waitlist for my upcoming Daily Writing Prompt Membership. Low-prep, high-impact ideas to keep students engaged and excited to write!
Why Ray Bradbury Is the Original Black Mirror (and How to Teach Both in the Classroom)
Ray Bradbury might not have predicted Instagram likes or parental control implants, but his stories hold up like eerie reflections of our own tech-obsessed world. In this post, I pair classic Bradbury short stories with Black Mirror episodes to explore how both challenge our ideas about progress, power, and humanity. Perfect for teachers looking to spark meaningful discussions in the classroom.
Famous First Lines as Writing Prompts: How to Spark Creativity Without Reinventing the Wheel
First lines are where everything begins -and for writers, they’re often the hardest part. That pressure to hook the reader immediately can be overwhelming. That’s exactly why I started collecting real first lines from published novels.
I use these with students to take the pressure off. Instead of staring at a blank screen, they start with something brilliant and build from there. It gives them structure and freedom all at once. It’s a reminder that writing isn’t about perfection. It’s about momentum.
Some lines are eerie. Some are emotional. Some are bold, jarring, or just weird enough to make you lean in. But the best ones all do the same thing: they open a door.
And that’s what these prompts are about. Opening the door, so the story can step through.
The Shoe Lesson: A Simple, Powerful Creative Writing Activity
What if one ordinary object could unlock a thousand extraordinary stories? The Shoe Lesson is one of my favourite creative writing activities - a simple, unexpected way to spark imagination, build character depth, and turn even the most reluctant writers into storytellers. Here's how a single shoe can transform your classroom or writing group.
How to Use Picture Prompts to Inspire Powerful Creative Writing
If you’ve ever felt like “describe the picture” prompts were falling flat, this is for you. In this post, I break down how I use picture prompts in the classroom to move beyond surface-level writing, and into rich, imaginative storytelling that students actually want to create.
Velvet Shadows and Candlelight: Why Darkness Belongs in the Classroom
Why are teens drawn to dystopias, gothic settings, and grief-soaked poetry? The answer might be simpler than you think. In this post, we explore how darker stories offer emotional depth, powerful writing opportunities, and space for healing inside the classroom.
10 Big Themes to Teach in Literature (That Students Actually Care About)
Tired of trying to make students care about literature? Start with themes that actually mean something to them. These ten big ideas - from identity and injustice to grief and resilience - are the ones students really connect with. Plus, I’ve included text suggestions and creative ways to teach each one.