How to start writing stories

Writing stories is great fun because when you write a story you can escape into a different world where all sorts of fun things happen. They can be things that might happen in real life or more unusual, magical things. And it’s completely up to you!

1. I find that a good starting point for a story is to imagine something that you would really love to happen and then make it happen to the character in your story. It’s even better if you can think of a story where rather than just something amazing happening, something then also goes wrong. For example, maybe a girl’s dream comes true and she gets a pony but then she can’t control him and her parents want to sell him; or someone finds something magical but then they can’t work out how to use the magic properly. Your story can be all about how the problem is solved.

2. Think your story through before you write it so you have an idea of what will happen and how it will end. You don’t have to stick to your idea and you will often find that as you write you will come up with a different, better idea, but it helps me to know what will probably happen before I begin.

3. When I’m writing, I often imagine I’m watching the story on a TV inside my head and I try and describe what I am seeing. Remember no one else can see the TV programme though, so you have to make sure you tell the reader everything they need to know to understand what’s going on. I like to tell people what the characters are thinking because I think it makes stories more interesting.

4. Keep it exciting! Make sure lots of things happen and if you are writing a story with chapters make sure that each chapter ends on something exciting so that the reader will want to know what happens next.

5. And last but not least, remember that writing is a skill, just like playing a musical instrument or drawing or doing a sport. You will get better at it the more you do so have fun and just
write, write, write!