Help me banish the "Scooby Doo" plots in dd writing...

[TMarie]

My 6th graders fiction writing always turns into what I call a "Scooby Doo" plot. You know the plot....

a camp employee trying to scare campers away so she can sell out to government.
lots of fierce animal sightings and disappearing kids
man hiding secret base which produces robots for government.
etc..First, are these kinds of plots acceptable? I don't like them. Second, how can I explain to her what is acceptable? I am not a writer. How can I give her guidance in choosing a plot?

FYI: We've used R&S for years. great grammar. I am now realizing our need for a writing program and am actively looking for one!
She does not read juvenile mystery type books regularly. Her steady diet of reading literature has come from WTM, Sonlight, and TOG suggestions.

[GVA]

From what I've seen, most grade school children write in "themes" unless they're truly creative writers or have constraints placed on the assignments. My son wrote a variations on the same dinosaur story for years whenever he could write what he wanted. Now that he's a lot more diverse, but he's also had over two years of IEW.

[Susan Wise Bauer]

This is just what many kids do at that age. She'll grow out of it. The male equivalent (which I have more experience with :)) is the young-boy-goes-on-fantasy-quest-with-dragon plot. They grow out of that as well.

Creative writing may never be her thing...or else she may develop a whole new range of plots as she grows. Either way, I wouldn't worry about it.

SWB

[Laura Corin]

Or the endless superhero/Martian space battle plot... I've got that one coming at me from two angles at present.

Laura

[Kathie in VA]

Does the Gingerbread Man remind you of a Jedi? It did for my 6th gr ds.

[Laura Corin]

Does the Gingerbread Man remind you of a Jedi? It did for my 6th gr ds.

I bet your son comes with a sound track too, like my boys: you always know when one of them is in the bathroom by the sounds of high-tech battle surging under the door.

Laura

[TMarie]

Thanks so much for the responses. What a relief it is to know that others experience this same phenomenon. I would actually like to read a martian/superhero plot! :D

[mamato3 all-boy boys]

Stories in my future include: new Star Wars adventures and "army man" stories. I am positive I'll be bald by the end of my homeschooling adventure.....:)

[Lori D.]

Star Wars, dragons, Star Trek, and -- definitely! -- lots of sound effects from 2 young teen boys, here, too!

still laughing! Lori D.:D

[magistramom]

Pokemon plots here...loads of sound effects written in, and elaborate pictures added to each story...

To add variation, we now have a seven minute creative writing time, and a seven minute writing time on a topic from history, science or literature.

[Hen Jen]

the sound effects thing follows into adulthood, it seems (tho more low-scale), dh just got a new phone, some guy at the bookstore excitedly tells us how to download a program to make it sound like a light saber whenever it's moved.
"Boy" seems like a foreign land sometimes.

[Julie in GA]

Oh yes, I know that male equivalent well! :)