Step Write Up provides hands-on exercises for parents, teachers and for any workshop leader endeavoring to bring 21st century collaboration and writing skills into the classroom or homeschool environment. To accomplish this, the authors have assembled lessons that can be modified for your own specific personalities, uses, and grade levels. Some are icebreakers that are aimed at promoting communication and collaborative teamwork. Some are lessons that provide for individual creativity and then lead into opportunities for group sharing and critiquing. And the authors go even further, showing how the products of these creative efforts can even carry us into areas of initiative and entrepreneurialism. “Learning and innovation skills increasingly are being recognized as those that separate students who are prepared for a more and more complex life and work environments in the 21st century, and those who are not. A focus on creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration is essential to prepare students for the future.” —Partnership for 21st Century Skills CONTENTS ICEBREAKERS & EXERCISES COMMUNICATION & EXERCISES CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION COLLABORATION COLLABORATION EXERCISES CREATIVITY GUIDED OR FREE WRITING PROMPTS CREATIVITY - POETRY Using Imagery Using Metaphors Poetry - Writing Closed Couplets Poetry - Writing Open Couplets Poetry - Writing Ghazals CREATIVITY - FICTION Fiction - Senses and Imagination Fiction - Senses Fiction - Settings Fiction - Characters Fiction - Character Development Fiction - Plot Fiction - Plot: Three-Act Structure Fiction - Plot: Hero’s Journey Fiction - Character & Plot Fiction - Point of View Critiquing CREATIVE NONFICTION Creative Nonfiction - Writing Narrative Publishing Student Work ARTICLES FOR CREATIVE WRITERS Writing a Nonfiction Book Proposal Assessing Our Needs as Writers Writing a Synopsis Inventing and Reinventing Ourselves as Writers Ah, the Writer’s Life! Writing Suspense vs. Historical Stories The A-Z of Writing RESOURCES & AUTHOR’S NOTES Nikoo and James McGoldrick (Ph.D.) are popular speakers and conduct various interactive workshops stemming from their successful book Step Write Up and collaborating on fifty books over two decades with traditional publishers. Nikoo was author-in-residence in Northwest Connecticut for a decade, conducting creative writing workshops and making many school visits. Jim has years of experience teaching creative writing and English literature in the high school and college classroom. The two of them continue to develop a variety of programs for all ages on the craft and business of writing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Keywords – creative writing lessons, fun home school lessons, creative writing lessons middle school, creative writing lessons elementary, New York standards-based, fun creative writing lessons, fun creative writing workbook, fun creative writing work book. creative writing work book high school, fun creative writing work book high school, home schools, fiction writing.