It can be tricky, sometimes, when you’re asked to write a story but don’t know where to start. That’s where planning comes in.

Today, I’m going to share some ideas with you that may help.

It’s all about the planning. Honest. Whilst there are those who can put pen to paper and write a story straight out of their head, we don’t all find it that easy. Plus, when you do that, it can be just as easy to get lost in the middle of your story and before long, you’ve gone off on a huge tangent and you’ve no idea how to bring your story back around and conclude it.

Believe me, I’ve seen this more than once. And when this happens, stories are often abandoned because the writer has no idea how to finish. planning can help you avoid this.

So, here’s what to do.

Start with characters. Choose two, so that it doesn’t become too complicated. They can be animal, human, fantasy characters. It’s up to you.
Next, pick a setting – where will your story happen? At sea, in the Arctic, on an island, in a city?
Now pick a problem – could one of your characters find themselves far from home or lost? Does one of them get injured or trapped? Are they being chased or hunted?

That’s the basis of your story. Now start brainstorming.

– Begin with ideas for the introduction. Who is the main character of your story and where are they at the start, before anything has happened? Where do they live and with whom? Where are they going?

– Next, make notes about the problem. Wherever it is you decide your character will go, they will encounter a problem; the problem you have already made notes about. Flesh out this idea with how and why this problem might occur.

– Now it’s time to think about how this problem might be solved. In stories, we generally find that there are one or two, perhaps even three attempts before the problem is solved. Have a think about this and make notes in your plan.

– To conclude your story, you might want to revisit where your character was going to initially. Once the problem is solved, a great way to round off the story is to get the character to where they were initially going and eventually back to where they started.

Think of your story in the shape of a circle. You, the author, are the compass drawing that circle. When you use a compass, you hold on tight, pull the pencil around with a steady hand and complete that circle. Think of doing this with your words.

If you can write your story from here, that’s fantastic. If not, here’s a basic template for you to work from. Once you’ve completed this template, you can go back and add to it to make it more interesting.

Once there was a …………….. named ………………. who lived with ……………. in a …………… . One ………… day, (insert character name) went to …………… .
All was well until ……………… .
(Insert character name) tried to …………… but it was no use.
Along came …………. who tried to help by …………….. . That didn’t work. Next, they tried ………….. but that didn’t work either.
Eventually, …………………… . It was tricky, but it worked.
So, (the characters) went ……………. .

And there is the basis of a story. You just need to go back over it now and see how you make it interesting and exciting. Remember to check back over your plan to make sure you included the details you had originally thought of.

Let me know how you get on!