For Kids: How To Write a Story in 10 Easy Steps
If you are a young person, it’s sometime tough to do a writing project. Especially if you have to write a story. Story’s are long and it’s easy to make mistakes. It’s also really tough to figure out how to get started. Well, have no fear, as this article teaches you how to write a story in 10 easy steps. Have someone help you go through them if you need help following along.
I’ve been writing stories for many years, but recently I was asked to speak with a group of Elementary School students on writing. They needed motivation on how to get started and how to continue once they were started. There are a lot of articles on the internet teaching adults how to write, but very few for kids. So, I decided to write this tutorial to help kids. It isn’t the only way, but it is a good way and it is easy to understand. Best of luck.
Write a Story in 10 Easy Steps
Step #1 – Pick a subject – choose something you really like for your first try. The reason is that if you really like something, you probably already know a lot about it, so it will make things easier.
Example: I like all the Star Wars movies. I know all the characters, the different kinds of ships, the planets, and which ones are the Rebels and which ones are the Empire. If I wanted to write a story about Star Wars, most of the work is already done for me and I wouldn’t need to do much research.
Step #2 – Let you imagination run wild – Think like you were telling a story about your favorite subject, not one that someone else has already told, but one of your very own. How would you get started? Well, a good way is to brainstorm ideas, making sure to write them down. Anything and everything can be written down. It’s a basket of your own original ideas.
Example: In the entire Star Wars world, no one has ever told the story of where Chewbacca came from, what his childhood was like, or who his parents were. Since there are no boundaries for the entire universe, you could easily imagine a planet where the Wookie’s live and tell a story about them. You already know what Wookie’s act like and how big they are, so all you must do is take it one step further. Let you imagination take the lead. Maybe Wookie’s live on a jungle planet and live in treehouses. And maybe they eat orange and purple fruit for their meals. Maybe they are 6 feet tall when they are kids. Just let the ideas flow and be sure you are writing them down. Try to get about twenty if you can for starters. You can always add more if necessary.
Step #3 – Now that you have a bunch of ideas running through your head, it’s time to put them together. You will need to decide on what the focus of this story will be? This is called the plot or main subject of the story. It’s like a road running through the countryside. You sometimes stop and check out things beside the road, or even a mile off the road, but you always return to the road to continue your journey or in this case, your story.
Example: I want to tell my story about what life is like at home for a Wookie kid. All the ideas I just generated might not fit the story, but they provide possibilities to think about and use if you want to. Ask yourself what things in your brainstorming session would fit? Well, what they eat would fit, and living in a treehouse would fit, but maybe things like the jobs Wookie parents have wouldn’t fit. Remember again that this list isn’t final until you say it is, so don’t rule out anything but try to prioritize them so the best ideas are part of the story.
Step #4 – Now decide on your main character. You may choose a character that is the same age as you, since you already know what a kid that age would be like. Alternatively you might choose another character, just as long as you can understand that choice. The story revolves around the main character.
Example: I might want to write about a 10-year-old Wookie boy named Remo. Why Remo you ask? Why not I would say. As the writer you get to choose everything. Remo might be a kid who likes video games, eats too many purple fruits and not enough orange ones, and tries to stay up late every night on his gaming console. Maybe he starts doing poorly in school because he isn’t getting enough rest. But Remo is a smart kid so he can see that he needs to work on improving himself, without being told to do so by his parents.
Step #5 – Choose a title. The title should be similar to the plot you have picked and give the reader a good idea of what the story is about.
Example: For my example, I might choose “Remo’s adventure in growing up”. It’s direct and easy to understand. A kid who is having an adventure growing up.
Step #6 – Now start telling that story, but instead of saying it out loud, write it down. One way to start is a draft of the big points you want to include. Once you have the big points, then add details. People love details in stories. They add what is called dimension to the story, making it feel like it is about a real person or place. Details also help people really understand what you are trying to say.
Example: Remo loves to play a video game called Starship Adventuring. You’ll need to describe the game and why he likes playing it so much. It is fast paced, and time seems to go by quickly. This is another detail that identifies how or why it keeps him from getting his homework done. It just takes up too much time. Details like this are good, just make sure they don’t become the story. Stay on track with the storyline. We only have one road running through the countryside, not two or three or more. Details are like those stop offs we mentioned in Step #3.
Step #7 – How will this story end? Sometimes a story can go on and on, but that doesn’t work when it comes to writing. Figuring out an ending gives you a goal to work towards. Once you have a beginning and an end, all you need to do is fill in the middle
Example: Remo gets a bad progress report from school. His dad wants to take away his game system until he gets better grades. Remo doesn’t want to lose his playing privileges, so he asks his dad if they can make a deal. He promises to set a time limit on how long each day he can play and spend more time on homework. Since he came up with the idea and stuck to it, his dad was proud at how he showed real maturity. His grades improved. He was growing up and becoming a good decision maker.
Step #8 – With your basic story in place, now would be a good time add illustrations, but only if you want to. Illustrations aren’t necessary, but they do help tell the story when done right. The key is to find the right spots to add them. Illustrations have value, so make them count.
Example: In the early part of the story, you might show a screen shot of the cool video game. Maybe further in the tale you can show young Remo respectfully speaking to his dad about this compromise he came up with. Near the end you could show both his mom and dad with big smiles on their face watching their son balance homework and playtime. With three illustrations, you’ve hit on the high points of the story. The reader will understand that those points were the key parts of the story.
Step #9 – Finally, read your finished work. Check it for grammar and punctuation. Make sure the sentences aren’t too long and that it sounds right. If something just doesn’t fit, then you might need to edit it out. If it feels like something is missing, then put it in. You want the story to be easy to follow, so if it is confusing, you will need to do some editing.
Example: In the story you have Remo wishing that he had a little sister so he would have someone to do his chores. This really doesn’t fit the story, since it’s about him growing up. Using his sister to do his work isn’t a sign of maturity and it doesn’t fit. This is something that should be cut out.
Step #10 – Read it out loud to someone else and see if they can understand it. This is the real test to see if you’ve accomplished what you set out to do. If they offer constructive criticism, then you should listen and repeat step #9 until the story is ready for the rest of the world to read.
So there you have it kids. How To Write a Story in 10 Easy Steps.
Additional Reading by R.J. Schwartz
Visit the author page of this writer on this website
Published Books Available on Amazon
The Lover’s Thread, Poetry of Love and Romance
Poetry of the Human Condition, The Ups and Downs of Modern Living
The Creative Exiles an anthology of poems: Let the Words Speak
- The Moment of Finding - April 18, 2024
- Discovery of Distant Memories - March 26, 2024
- Narcissism Admonition - March 20, 2024
What brilliant advice! This is perfect for children, giving them ideas but at the same time giving them confidence in their own abilities, encouragement to use their imagination and not be afraid. It avoids having to drift in a difficult world of ideas without construction. Easy steps and not too many. Once they’re started, there’s no stopping them and you could have given the beginnings to a best-selling author! I would give an adult these guidelines too!
Excellent!
Thanks Ann. If each one of us could encourage just one child to start writing and never stop, the world would benefit.
I wish I could have been in the classroom to hear you speak. A great how-to Ralph. Always about training youth in writing. Jamie
Thanks – talking to 100+ 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students was a real joy. So many great questions and the look on their faces was magical.