Creative writing is a valuable skill that enables learners to become proficient writers. One reason students often struggle with creative writing is their lack of contextual experiences. Spherical video-based virtual reality (SVVR) has been argued to support students' writing through immersive virtual experiences. However, what specific pedagogical practices can be developed and integrated with emerging technologies like SVVR to improve their effectiveness to support elementary school students' creative writing needs further work. This study proposes an innovative approach that integrated the generative learning strategy (GLS) of imagining with SVVR to enhance elementary school students' creative writing performance. To test the effectiveness of the proposed approach, a quasi-experiment was conducted in an elementary school writing class. The experimental group (N = 56) used the generative learning-based SVVR approach (GSVVR), while the control group (N = 55) used the generative learning-based conventional approach (GC). The results showed that the GSVVR group outperformed the GC group in terms of creative writing (F = 10.953, p < 0.01) with a medium effect size. Furthermore, we found a significant impact on students' behavioural and emotional engagement as well as their learning persistence, particularly if they had engagement values below 4.3 before the intervention. These findings indicates that while the approach may have limited benefits for students who are already highly engaged (engagement values exceeding 4.3) with SVVR. It can also notably enhance the performance of relatively less engaged (engagement values below 4.3) students. There was a positive correlation between learning persistence and creative writing in the GSVVR group, with learning persistence being one of the significant predictors of student creative writing performance. The study is concluded with a discussion on the pedagogical and theoretical implications of the findings to support elementary school students' creative writing.