That sinking feeling

Sometimes a story can express so much about how we feel.

Look at the first of the four picture writing prompts below. Is the hand sinking into the puddle – or rising out of it?

That depends on your point of view. Maybe the puddle is an illusion – or perhaps the hand is an elaborate practical joke, with nothing beyond the elbow? (It sure would startle you!)

Is the hand throwing something? Or asking you to throw something to it? (All those ‘quicksand’ scenes in old B-movies come to mind.) Whose hand is it? Maybe it’s the modern Lady of the Lake – the apparition who gave King Arthur his sword, Excalibur.

Or even … perhaps there is a whole universe and society underground, and this is just (just) a portal allowing a brief intrusion from one world to the other.

Possibilities abound.

Stories – or Persuasion?

This set of four Seven Steps Writing Prompts covers the emotions: wonder, surprise, fear, elation, anxiety. All the drama of emotion is here.

The first two of these prompts are for narrative writing, focusing students on practising their Sizzling Starts and Exciting Endings. The second two are for persuasive writing, asking the writer to think and plan their argument.

Writing Prompts

Download the complete Seven Steps Writing Prompts  from Teacher Hub with extra thinking questions, video links and activity ideas:

Rising or Falling | Free Falling | Party Fears | Emotions

Looking for more?

View more free Seven Steps Writing Prompts for narrative, persuasive and informative text types.