Serendipitous
Crazy Illustrations

This writing prompt generator was proposed by Nevada teacher Corbett Harrison while attending a teacher in-service sponsored by the Northern Nevada Writing Project.

Writer Instructions:

Author David Wiesner, author of Tuesday, says that he often draws a crazy picture as part of his pre-writing process. This exercise challenges you to draw a crazy picture that is full of details and then write a story about your illustration.

Hit each button below, and you'll be given an idea for a crazy illustration you can draw.  Keep changing words by hitting buttons, but stop when you find an idea you REALLY like.  Draw the picture first.  Don't worry about your artistic skills!  This is not art class!

When the picture is created, challenge yourself to write a bigger story that uses your picture as one of its illustrations.  As you write, try to paint interesting descriptive details with words.   Give your reader the ability to SEE the picture that you drew through the words you are writing.

Fun variation:  Do this drawing exercise with a friend.  Write your friend's story when his or her drawing is finished...AND have your friend write the story that goes with your crazy picture.