I recently won a writing competition: the Magic, Mystery or Skateboards competition at Creative Kids Tales.
The prize? An amazing, wonderful, inspiring Faber Writing Academy course at Allen and Unwin. I attended Getting Published as a Writer for Children in Sydney on October 14, and it was one of the best writing courses I have ever attended.
Relaxed, inspiring and encouraging, Jane Godwin (author and editor), our main presenter for the day, was so generous and warm, and I left feeling inspired to tackle the next challenges in my writing journey.
I spilled some secrets from the course over on Creative Kids Tales: Secrets to Writing the Best Story Ever (tips and tricks from a Faber Writing Academy course)
But…
I thought I might spill just a few more over here.
So here are 8 more tips for writing great stories:
- Great stories have the right balance of originality and familiarity.
- In great stories, character and plot are intertwined, and the plot grows out of character.
- In great stories, main characters grow and change.
- Great stories leave gaps for the reader to join the dots. They create a well-organised absence of information
- To create great stories, have something you want to explore and share. Write what captures your imagination. Find your inner reason for your story.
- Great stories have a sense of the magical.
- Great stories don’t let the message override the story.
- Great stories have vivid, specific and immersive details.
And here are 3 bonus tips about submissions:
- Get your voice into your submission letter/pitch because your voice is what is going to set you apart and make you stand out.
- Make your submission memorable.
- Don’t be gimmicky but don’t be boring.
Hope they help!
