“But I’m Just Not Creative”: How to get Reluctant Students to Write Fiction

Give high school students the chance to write about anything they want, and you might expect them to be thrilled. Finally, no assigned text. No literary analysis paragraph. They can write whatever they want!

And then someone asks, “What am I supposed to write about?”

Someone else announces that they aren’t creative. A few students immediately start planning a twelve-book fantasy series, while another has spent fifteen minutes deciding what to name the main character. We have all this freedom, and somehow very little writing is happening.

I love giving students opportunities to write fiction, but “be creative” is a pretty unhelpful direction when a student has no idea where to begin. There are a lot of decisions hiding inside a short story assignment. Students have to invent people, figure out what those people want, give them a problem, and decide what happens next. Then they have to turn all of that into writing someone else can follow. For a student who already thinks creative writing is something other people are good at, that can feel like a lot.

So, how do we help them get started? I think a big part of it is giving them enough structure to try something without feeling like they need a brilliant idea first.

Give Them a Smaller Decision to Make

“Write a story” can feel enormous. “Your character needs something from someone who doesn’t trust them” gives students a situation they can actually work with. They still get to decide who the characters are, what they want, and why there is a problem. They just have somewhere to start.

You can make the task smaller, too. Have students write the conversation where the character asks for help. Or the moment they realize their plan won’t work. They don’t need an entire fictional universe before they can practice writing a scene.

I also like giving students a few choices instead of asking them to invent every detail from scratch. Let them choose a setting, draw a complication, or pick between a few possible character goals. The interesting part is seeing what they do with that starting point. Two students can begin with the same situation and take it in completely different directions.

It also helps to make the first attempt feel like practice. Students can try an idea, realize it goes nowhere, and try something else. They don’t need to commit to writing five pages about the first character they invent. Give them a little room to figure out what interests them before asking for a finished story.

Make the Character a Little Inconvenient

Students can spend a surprising amount of time describing a character’s appearance without giving that character much to do. I want to know what the character wants and what about their personality is going to make getting it difficult.

A character might be brave enough to enter a dangerous place but too proud to ask for directions. Someone else might be excellent at making plans and completely useless when the plan changes. Now we have something worth writing about.

Try asking students to pair a strength with a weakness and then put the character in a situation where both matter. A fiercely loyal character might defend a friend who is clearly lying. Now the writer has to decide what loyalty looks like when it causes trouble. The character’s personality starts shaping the plot instead of sitting in a planning sheet where we never hear about it again.

When a student gets stuck, ask what their character would do that might make the situation worse. Sometimes, the problem is that the student is trying very hard to protect the character from anything interesting happening.

Let Them Talk Through an Idea

I don’t think every part of the writing process has to happen silently in front of a document. Sometimes, a student needs to explain an idea to someone else before they can figure out how to write it.

A partner can ask the question that gets the story moving: Why would she trust him? What happens if they get caught? Didn’t you say that character was afraid of water?

Those questions help students notice gaps and consider possibilities. They also give them an audience that has a reason to care about what happens next.

For collaborative storytelling, though, I want everyone contributing. Small groups of three to five give students room to talk without having quite so many ideas competing at once. Have everyone bring a character or a possible complication to the conversation, then pause for individual writing. Otherwise, it is very easy for the most enthusiastic storyteller to take over while everyone else becomes an audience.

Even if students are writing separate stories, a short conversation with a partner can help. Give them something specific to discuss, such as whether a character’s decision makes sense, and then send them back to their own writing.

Give Their Plans a Chance to Go Wrong

A story where the main character succeeds at everything gets boring pretty quickly. Unfortunately, students sometimes treat an obstacle like something to remove as efficiently as possible. The door is locked, so they find a key. The guard is suspicious, so they explain themselves. Everything is fine. We can all go home.

I want them to consider what happens when the first attempt doesn’t solve the problem.

One way to practice this is to stop students at the moment their character attempts something important. Have them imagine three possibilities: the plan works, the plan fails, or the plan works but causes another problem. Ask which possibility gives them the most interesting next scene. They might discover that the outcome they initially wanted is the least interesting one to write.

For example, imagine a character manages to unlock a door but makes enough noise to alert someone inside. They got what they wanted, and now they have a new problem. Students have to decide how the character reacts and what that reaction causes.

The important part is making the new complication connect to what already happened. An unexpected event should give them something to develop, rather than simply making the story more random. If a dragon suddenly appears in the school cafeteria, I am going to have some questions. If the student has already established that someone is secretly raising a dragon behind the gym, though, we have a very different conversation.

Turn the Idea Into a Scene

Students can have a great time discussing a story and still need help putting it on the page. I want to give them a manageable writing task while the idea is fresh.

There is a difference between deciding that the characters argued and writing the argument so a reader can experience it. A plot outline can tell us what happens, but students still need practice deciding what to show and how much space to give it.

If students write, “They argued about who should open the door,” ask them to show us part of that conversation. Who speaks first? Who avoids answering? What does someone do while the others are talking? Those choices let students practice dialogue and characterization within a scene they already understand.

After collaborative storytelling, you could also have each student choose one moment to develop independently. They might retell it from their character’s point of view or slow down a rushed scene. Writing the whole adventure as a polished short story can be an extension, but a single scene gives you plenty to teach.

Give Feedback They Can Use on the Next Draft

Creative writing can feel personal, even when the student is writing about a completely invented person in a completely invented place. Sharing a draft means letting someone else see an idea that might still feel awkward.

I want feedback to give students a reason to keep working. “This part is confusing” becomes more useful when we can point to the moment where we lost track of who was speaking. “Add detail” is easier to act on when we ask students to show what the character notices as they enter the room.

I would also focus the feedback. If we are working on character motivation, we can look at whether the choices in the scene fit what the writer has established. We can work on other things later. A developing story doesn’t need every possible correction at once.

Students don’t have to arrive in class thinking of themselves as writers. They need opportunities to make choices, see what those choices do, and try again. A little structure can make that process much easier to enter.

Try Collaborative Storytelling

One way I like to bring these strategies together is through collaborative storytelling. Students each have a character, but they share the world and have to figure out what happens together. Someone makes a decision, someone else points out why that is a terrible idea, and now they have something to write about.

Adding a little unpredictability gives them even more to work with. What happens if their plan fails? What if they get what they wanted and accidentally create a much bigger problem? Students still make the storytelling decisions, but they have something specific to respond to when they get stuck.

That was the idea behind Storytellers & Side Quests. I wanted to give students a way into creative writing that let them talk through ideas and have some fun while developing a story.

Students start by creating original characters with strengths and weaknesses. Then they work in groups to build a shared world, including its locations, traditions, and conflicts. By the time they begin the adventure, they already have people and places they helped invent, along with problems worth exploring.

During storytelling, cards introduce situations and twists, while dice help determine whether attempted actions succeed, fail, or succeed with a complication. Students decide how their characters respond and write about what happens on their campaign worksheets. Sometimes, a failed attempt gives them far more to work with than a successful one.

Neither you nor your students need previous Dungeons & Dragons experience. The resource includes a teacher’s guide, introductory slides, character creation materials, worldbuilding resources, and gameplay materials. It is designed for approximately a week, with room to adjust the pace. You can also extend the work by having students develop a scene into a short story or write from their character’s point of view.

You can find Storytellers & Side Quests in the Novel Matters Shop. If you have students who insist they aren’t creative, give them a character with a problem and somewhere to begin. They might have more ideas than they think.