July / August  2018
 

FINDING AN IDEA

Finding an idea to write about can be one of the most difficult things for young writers. The most common question authors get asked is “Where do you get your ideas?” This is a difficult question to answer because you can’t just look under a bush in the front garden and pick up a stray idea. They seem to pop into your head at the most unexpected times and unfortunately it’s not always when you have a story to write for homework, a test or competition.

If you want to write a story, but you’re stuck for ideas, here’s a few suggestions:

• Most families have a funny story that they like to tell over and over; about the time Sally got her toe stuck in the tap in the bathtub, or the time that you tricked the annoying kid next door into believing the whole family were aliens. Write your family’s favourite funny story.

• Think of something that you know about, like how to play the piano or how to climb trees for instance, and add something fantastic. For example, you’re the greatest tree climber in your school, when one day the tree you climb keeps going up and up and up… What happens next?
   

Here are what some famous authors say about getting ideas:

Look at the newspapers and look for unusual or funny stories. Sometimes the newspapers have a page where there are a dozen small news items in a column, called News Briefs. Once I saw a paragraph about a boy who was locked in a library overnight. Well, that sounds like a good jumping off point for a story, doesn't it? The other day there was also a story about “Lonesome George”, a tortoise living on the Galapagos Islands. What made the story interesting was that he is the last of his species and can't find a mate. That would make an interesting story. Tip: keep an eye on the papers, they're a wonderful resource. But don't copy the story, use it as a jumping off point for your own idea!

Stephen Measday

Many writers keep a special book for recording observed or spontaneous ideas. This acts as a valuable resource, especially when they are suffering from “writers’ block” or need imaginative stimulation. A glance through my own ideas book shows snatches of overheard conversations, unusual names of people, places I’ve visited, pieces of graffiti, newspaper clippings of stories that have intrigued me, dreams, childhood memories, story titles I might use in future and many other titbits of information. Once you start becoming an ideas collector, you will be surprised at the snowballing effect your new hobby will have.

Di Bates from her book The New Writer’s Survival Guide

Margaret Clark says she gets her ideas from ordinary everyday people, things and objects. Some examples include:

• the diary she kept when she was 15

• her daughter’s experiences as a teen model

• overheard conversations; the title of her book Hold My Hand or Else came from something she heard a mother say to a toddler.

 

CREATING A CHARACTER

With only 500 words to tell your story, creating a fully rounded character is a bit of a challenge. Nevertheless, it’s important to try to create a believable character. You don’t need to go into heaps of detail describing the character; just choose an example of their behaviour or appearance that gives the reader the information you want them to have. Here’s an example from a story called “My Dad the Marshmallow” by Nicholas Solomon, which was our South Australia Year 6 state winner in 2000:

“My dad’s big, mean and ugly… He eats a lot for breakfast. Sometimes I sit at the other end of the table because he looks like he could eat me too.”

In just a few words, we know that the father is tough and that his son is a bit scared of him. This sets us up for the rest of the story, which reveals the father’s softer side.

Here are some other suggestions from two published Australian authors about how they create their characters:

If the character is central to the story it’s not enough to say that he or she is “1.7m tall with black hair”. Half the population fits that description. To make your major characters come to life you must endow them with unique details. Something about the way they dress, for example? The jewellery they wear? Do they have tattoos, braces, glasses, facial hair, make-up, painted nails? Is there something odd about them? Perhaps they wear two watches, or carry a spare pair of socks in their pocket, or they wear a badge with a picture of Big Bird.

Of course it’s in their attitudes, opinions, thoughts, personality that your characters will truly express their uniqueness, but the little details of dress and appearance can help.

John Marsden from his book “Everything I Know About Writing”

I like to think about certain details about my characters; what their hands look like, how they walk. These physical details can help me get to know my character. I try to walk like my character would walk; if I can do that, then I feel like the character, and then I can write about her.

Pamela Freeman

DIALOGUE

Dialogue is speech; the things your characters say to each other. Using dialogue in your story can be useful in lots of ways.

• The way a character talks can give us some clues about the kind of person they are.

• Dialogue can liven up a scene, bring it to life, so that you “show” what’s happening rather than just “telling” your reader.

• Dialogue can make a change from first (“I”) or third person (“they”) narrative, so it keeps the reader interested.

A story without dialogue can become dull; a story with too much dialogue will get boring to read too, so not too much and not too little!

Here’s what author Stephen Measday has to say about writing dialogue:

Writing dialogue is a lot easier than it looks. The key to writing good dialogue is to make the conversation between your characters part of the story. Dialogue isn't just filling in spaces with talk. The purpose of dialogue is to give the reader an understanding of who the main characters are by the way that they speak. But don't waffle. Make sure the dialogue is part of the plot of your story.

Another good tip is not to get too carried away with “…he exclaimed”, “…she shouted”. Stick with “he said” most of the time, and when you do need to explain HOW the character said something, it will have greater impact on the reader.

Here’s a suggestion about creating dialogue from another of our authors:

Listen to people speaking to each other. Often we speak a sort of "shorthand", like, “Move it!” meaning “Please move out of the way.” Interestingly, we often speak in clichés, which most teachers of writing say you shouldn't use. My books have quite a few clichés. That's because I feel that the reader likes these devices to make the book more user-friendly. For example, "Get a life!" sounds heaps better than "Please go out and have some interesting experiences", doesn't it?

Margaret Clark
 

A STRONG FINISH

Here is some excellent advice from Meredith Costain about writing a great ending for your story.

So you’ve written 450 words and the end of your story is in sight. How are you going to finish it off? Some writers don’t start writing until they know exactly how the story will finish. They think of a funny or clever last line or paragraph, or what’s called a “twist”, and then shape the first part of their story so that it heads towards it. Others take the “what if?” approach. They start writing without a clear idea of where their story is heading, but have fun finding out along the way.

With a limit of 500 words, it’s very tempting to take the easy approach when finishing up your story. “I woke up. It was all a dream”. Slack. “Then we all went home.” Slacker. “And then I died. The end.” So how come you could write the story if you were dead?

A more effective approach is to write what’s called an “open ending”. This is very economical because it leaves the reader to fill in some of the gaps for you, saving you precious words! Try something like this: “I’d learnt my lesson. That was the last time I’d fool around with potions and spells. The next day, my brother brought home a chemistry set. I looked up “alchemy” on the Internet …” Or: “Everything.

​