Embracing Collaborative Writing to Spark Creativity

Let's Do This

This tip content comes from Write Pittsburgh! The information was shared during our Won't You Be a Writer? Event at Stay Gold Books on 10/1. 

Collaborative writing supports both student engagement and growth in writing skills.

Collaborative prompts invite writers in at an earlier stage of the creative process while collaborative exercises take some of the pressure off and make it more fun and less intimidating. In either case, it turns a solitary assignment into a group activity that encourages students to share ideas. 

Communal Random Idea Generator

One easy way to integrate students' interests into writing prompts is to let them contribute directly. This idea can be utilized in a plethora of ways, but here's a suggested approach from Write Pittsburgh:  

• Set up 3 bags or baskets each labeled "Character," "Setting," and "Problem."
• Have each writer tear 3 strips of paper and write a type of person on the first one, a place on the second, and something that could go wrong on the third. 
• Collect the strips, sorted into the 3 bags. 
• Have each writer pull one strip from each bag at random. 
• The 3 strips together form each writer's individual writing prompt: write a story about that character, in that place, that opens on the moment the problem starts. 

Stay Inspired

There are lots of ways that you can facilitate collaborative writing in and out of the classroom! Check out Collaborative Classroom for ideas and more on how to create a classroom writing community.