The Blog
Stream of consciousness writing
Planning your writing is important, but delving into your consciousness can also be a rewarding and fun way to practise. In my last blog, I talked about planning and I'm a huge advocate of doing this. From starting with a blank page, planning helps you formalise your...
Planning a story
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...
Write a sentence about…
When it comes to writing, and reluctance to write, I always encourage starting small. You’d be surprised by where that can lead. One of the writing exercises I’ve been doing with the children at the Storymakers’ Summer School these last few weeks is an extremely...
The Magic Sand – A Short Story
I am always encouraged to hear the children have been writing when not attending the Storymakers groups. What a delight to find out that one of them had won a writing competition! Aliona attended the Story Writers group throughout lockdown and she wrote The Magic Sand...
What am I?
The Young Writers got creative recently with some 'what am I?' quizzes. Can you guess what they're describing? Can you come up with your own? 1.)I can whistle but I can't talkAnd I can dance but can't walk.I can brighten someone’s day or make it worse!I'm invisible...
Recommended Lockdown Reads
The children at Storymakers have told me they’ve been reading more during lockdown and that their choice of book has differed due to having the freedom to choose. They also said they’ve enjoyed having more time to read, which is great news isn’t it? Here is a...
Using sensory language for describing settings
When we describe settings in our writing, it's important to consider not only what you can see, but to use all your senses to give a full description of the sounds, scents, textures and even how it makes you feel. Young Writer, Isobel, is here to give you the full...
How to make a story out of idioms
Idioms are common sayings used in the English language. They don't have a literal meaning, so can be difficult to understand. You might hear your grandparents use them - they're quite old-fashioned - but that doesn't mean you shouldn't know what they are and what they...
Writing for a purpose – send a letter
Want to engage your reluctant writer to put pen to paper? Get them to write a letter. This is a box of letters I kept from my teenage years. It is my life at that time, catalogued, my email thread of old. Yet, it’s tangible. People of my generation remember what it...
Choosing the right point of view for your story
Most people have their preferred point of view when it comes to writing. It helps to understand each method though and today, I have a guest post written by Isobel, to explain the different points of view and how to use them. Isobel is one of the Young Writers and...
Seven-Line Poetry – Creative writing prompts
Today's creative writing prompt is a poem in the form of seven-line poetry. The inspiration for this poem will come from one of the books on your shelf. Here's what to do: - Go to your book shelf and take the seventh book along.- Open this book at Page seven.- Find...
First line, last line, creative writing story prompt
Are you looking for a fun creative writing story prompt? Here's a tried and tested one, with an example of how it's done. This is an exercise we've done a few times at the Young Writers Group. It involves looking through the books on your shelf. You take the first...