With this writing exercise, the teacher begins with a prompt at the top of the whiteboard. Some of the more common prompts like, “It was a dark and stormy night. . ,” “It was late at night when I heard a knock on my door.” or “The box that the messenger delivered sat on the floor of my room.” might be used, but a teacher can get as creative as he or she likes here. Prompts can be drawn from local stories, popular songs or movies and TV shows.