The Scrap-Built Flying Machine
Every year, your town holds a legendary race where competitors use homemade flying machines. This year, you and your friends decide to enter with a craft you've built from scrap materials and old bicycle parts. Describe the race and the quirky competitors you meet along the way.
Suggested length: A middle grade story: 2,000 to 5,000 words
Start the clock
Pick a sprint, press start and keep going until it stops. Momentum beats polish on a first draft.
Make it yours
Three ways to take this prompt somewhere nobody else will.
- Use one silly sound word kids will want to say.
- Use a repeated line young readers can join in on.
- Make the ending warm, safe and a little bit funny.
Writing middle grade books
Ages 8 to 12: friendship, family and figuring out who you are.
Middle grade novels are written for readers around 8 to 12, with heroes usually 10 to 13. The stakes are huge to the characters, the focus stays on their world, and any romance stops at a crush.
What readers expect
- A hero aged about 10 to 13
- Family, friends and school
- Humor and heart
- Hope, even in hard stories
A tip before you start
Kids read up. Make your hero as old as your oldest readers, or a little older.
More Middle Grade prompts
- The Attic Game WorldDescribe an adventure of two friends who discover an old, dusty board game in their attic. When they start playing, they realise the game is magical…
- The Dog Who Spoke at MoonriseYou discover that your pet dog can speak, but only in the presence of a full moon. On a night of a full moon, you and your pet embark on an adventure.…
- Five Minutes in TimeYou inherit a strange, quirky watch from your eccentric uncle that doesn’t tell time; instead, it lets you jump forward or backward in time, but only…
- The Treehouse ContestPicture a world where every kid lives in a treehouse. Describe your own treehouse and the unique features that make it special. Then, create a story…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
Chapterly gives a draft somewhere to grow: chapters, daily word goals, and readers when you're ready.
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