These summer writing prompts are appropriate for all ages…
Because I know a lot of teachers are looking forward to the summer…along with a lot of students, and a lot of writers. In my mind, the season inspires a lot of good creative writing topics, and it wasn’t hard to come up with this list!
If you’d like creative writing ideas with more magic and fantasy, you might also want to check out my post on 50 Fantasy Writing Prompts and Fantasy Plot Ideas. And whether you’re looking for June journal prompts or starting a new story, I hope one of these creative writing ideas inspires you. Be sure to pin it on Pinterest for future reference!
1. Write a scene that includes fireflies.
2. Write a scene that includes mosquitos, hornets, or wasps.
3. Someone is driving with the car windows down, singing at the top of their lungs to their favorite song. Who are they? Where are they going — or what are they getting away from? Why do they like this song so much?
4. Write about someone at a state fair. Why are they there? What are the sights, sounds, and smells?
5. Come up with a conversation that takes place around a campfire.
6. Write about a teenager at their summer job. It could be a normal one, or something unusual.
7. Write a scene that includes a waterfall.
8. Describe lightning striking something — or someone — along with what happens next.
9. Someone is packing their bag for a summer vacation. Where are they going? What are they bringing along?
10. Write about something going very wrong on a vacation.
11. Incorporate the chirping of crickets or the buzz of cicadas into a piece of writing.
12. Set a scene at an ice cream parlor, a frozen custard stand, or near an ice cream truck.
13. Write about an outdoor event getting interrupted by a downpour.
14. Write about a bike ride to an unusual place.
15. Describe a baseball game that takes an unexpected turn.
16. Write about something you used to do for fun as a kid during the summertime.
17. Write about a parent whose out-of-school kids are driving them bananas.
18. Two characters are picking berries. What’s their relationship to each other? Are they having fun, or no?
19. Write from the point of view of someone who hates summer.
20. Describe one of your favorite summer experiences, such as cooking steaks on a grill or getting a pedicure.
21. Write a scene that takes place at a swimming pool.
22. Come up with a scene that includes a sand castle.
23. Imagine a kid at summer camp, and describe what they do there.
24. Someone is fishing… and pulls something out of the lake or ocean that is definitely not a fish.
25. Somebody on a beach finds a message in a bottle, washed up on the shore. What does it say?
26. Come up with a scene that features fireworks in some way.
27. Describe a happy scene at a farmer’s market.
28. Describe a fight — silly, or serious — that takes place on a cruise ship.
29. Write from the point of view of someone who is sailing alone.
30. Picture yourself in a rose garden. Who does it belong to? Why are you there, and what happens?
31. Write from the point of view of a character in one of your favorite blockbuster movies.
32. A camper is in their tent — alone, or with someone else. What wakes them up in the middle of the night?
33. Write a scene in which the characters are hot and sweaty.
34. Write about a place that characters go just to cool down.
35. Describe the perfect summer meal, beverage, or dessert.
36. Write from the point of view of a moth telling himself not to go near that flame.
37. Write a scene where somebody runs through the sprinklers — intentionally or not.
38. Imagine being at a big outdoor music festival, and write about what you do and the people you meet.
39. Write about a character who’s wearing sunglasses… and never takes them off.
40. Write about something embarrassing happening to someone who’s wearing a swimsuit.
41. Write about a father and a son meeting for the first time in years on Father’s Day.
42. Write about a character who has strong feelings about Independence Day (the 4th of July.)
43. Write about a road trip you took once.
44. Describe a stay at a funky old motel.
45. Write about characters sleeping out under the stars.
46. Make up an eccentric relative that you might meet at a family reunion.
47. Write from the point of view of a dog at the dog park.
48. Imagine going to a flea market or garage sale, and finding something that thrills you… for cheap!
49. Write about a character making a wish by blowing on a dandelion puff.
50. Somebody is reading on the beach… but it’s not the typical beach read. What’s the book about? Why is this person interested?
I hope you enjoyed the summer writing prompts! I’d love to hear your comments. If you don’t want to miss future creative writing ideas, follow the blog if you aren’t already — you can subscribe below. And if you want to share something you wrote, go for it — that would be so much fun to see. Happy writing!
I hope you enjoyed these summer writing prompts…
And if you’d like a huge collection of writing prompts for many fiction genres, personal essays, and more, check out my book, 5,000 Writing Prompts! It has hundreds of five-star reviews, and every prompt can be used in almost endless creative ways.
Are you working on a project you love this summer?
Do you have other thoughts about summer writing prompts? Let us know in the comments section below! Thanks so much for reading, and happy writing!
I love summer back in the midwest, because of the fireflies (although in southern Indiana they are called “lightning bugs.”)
I used to catch them and put them in a jar with holes poked in the lids to keep by my bed overnight. They inevitably would crawl out somehow, and I’d wake up to find flashing bugs crawling around on my walls and ceiling.
Mean kids would pull the them in half and draw glowing pictures or words on the front of their shirts. This always upset me and caused me a great deal of stress and outrage.
I also remember how at the hay farms, the fields would have an unearthly, flickering glow at night from all the fireflies hiding in the tall hay before it was harvested.
Fireflies and the loud buzz of cicadas = summer nights for me. 🙂
I was trying to catch some last night! Just for a picture. It’s not as easy as I remembered 😀
Someone told me that when she was a kid, they used to dig out the glowy bits and smear them around… I was horrified!
I love the fireflies. 🙂
These are great! I think I will use them with my students this year also.
Your first few suggestions brought back a family memory of when my daughter Katie was a new driver as we were on a family trip.
Her stress level when she felt pressured driving 55 mph through road construction on the freeway with the yard-high orange barrels on her left and a semi-truck moving on her right became amplified when a wasp flew in her window and landed on the front of her shirt.
Katie’s loud and continuous screaming while she tried to flick off the wasp and keep control of the car prompted her older sister in the back seat to use an empty pop bottle to bonk Katie on the back of the head several times in an attempt to quiet Katie down.
That action required Katie to then alternate between trying to blindly brush off the wasp and grab the bottle as it attacked her head. The rest of us couldn’t stop laughing at her misfortune. There was nothing we could do during that 2-minute portion of the drive, except when I asked the bottle bopping to end.
Katie pulled over to the side if the road when the construction area ended, and immediately exited the car to shake herself off with more screams plus scoldng her sister for threatening our safely with her annoying action.
That was one of our most memorable family events.
Kathy — oh my gosh. I remember how nervous I would get anyway as a new driver… The poor thing! But that is so funny!
Thank you very much for this blue. This is a very inspiring piece. I have written a long conversation between mosquitoes and a bed bus. If you would like it I would mail it to you. I would try on several prompts. Thank you once again.
Hi Sayed, thanks for reading, and for the kind words! I’m so glad you like the post. My email is bryndonovan1@gmail.com — I’d love to see what you did!
What fun topics for summer inspired writing prompts! I hope I can share on here soon. I stumbled across your blog as I was searching for ideas on describing facial expressions.
Hi Miss Kim, welcome to the blog! So glad you like it 🙂
Great prompts, thank you!