This study compared the preferred writing topics of urban and rural middle school students. Eighth graders (n = 205) responded to a brief survey of preferred writing topics in the descriptive writing genres of real or imagined stories, reports, and opinions. While some preferred writing topics were divergent such as society, crime, and violence, more topics were noted as overlapping. Findings indicate that the major overlapping topics for both rural and urban participants included current events, teen issues, politics, school, and celebrities. Interestingly, the commonality of adolescence seems to be more salient in preference of writing topic than does location in which one receives an education. Implications for classroom writing topic preferences are discussed. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)