Resources for Students, Teachers, Parents & Carers
Stories - Tips to help you.
Our e-book
Have a browse through the eBook from the 2023 Writing Challenge which can be found on the Fish Creek Childrens Festival of Stories website, Fishystories.org It will give you lots of ideas for writing and how the different authors wrote their pieces of writing.
Videos
Checkout some videos which help explain the Writing Challenge.
Michael Hyde - Author with over 30 published books for kids & teens and creative writing lecturer.
Sarah Lind - Primary School Teacher and story enthusiast.
Andrew Mcdonald - Author of Real Pigeons, loves writing stories that make kids laugh
Ideas
If you’re trying to come up with an idea, think of a list of emotions (happy, sad, angry, humorous, nasty, scared, excited, nervous etc) and then connect them with an experience you are familiar with or know something about. Any idea is OK.
For Example: Scared – first ride on a horse, a vicious dog on the way home from school, a bully, a secret.
How to develop your story
Once you have an idea here’s a list of questions you can ask which will help you develop your story and think more deeply. Perhaps only some of them might apply to your story.
What happened? (Description)
Where did it happen? (Description)
Who was there? (Characters)
Why did it happen?
How? (Any action?)
Do you remember what the weather was like?
Did anybody say anything? (Dialogue)
Was there anything you noticed that others may not have noticed (a bracelet, leaves falling from a tree, oil leaking, a noise, a person’s behaviour, colours, objects, animals, birds)?
Were there any thoughts going on in you or your character’s head?
Any emotions?
Weird, strange or small things going on?
Starting your story
Sometimes it’s a good idea trying out a few different ways of starting your story. Remember you want to capture your reader. Think of what you like when you start reading a story. Is it action? Description? Dialogue? Mystery? Fear? Humour? If you are having trouble starting, simply choose one and start writing!
Endings can be tricky. Readers like to be left with something. Like a thought. Or a question. A Joke. A surprise. A memory. Or wondering what was going to happen. Some new information. Or a feeling.
Ending your story
Tips for Picture Stories
Example of a 4 page spread
Here's an idea for a picture story created by Michael Hyde that Craig Smith developed into a four page spread as seen below:
Sam loves riding his bike. To school. With friends. Doing tricks. Dreams of having an adventure.
One day out of the blue, Sam decides to ride into the bush/forest, to have an adventure.
Sam becomes lost overnight. Scared and hungry.
Sam finds his own way out the next day by following his own tyre tracks (like hansel and gretel).
The task is to write and illustrate a short story put together in the form of a short picture book. Try and tell the story in as few words as possible. Let the pictures give life to the story.
For instance, applying the golden rule of ‘show, don’t tell’, descriptions of the setting and characters will probably not be needed. It will be shown by the illustrations.
A book is made up of pages, but each two facing pages together is what is called a spread.
Then, when the right-hand page is turned, it reveals the next spread. It is nice to use the reveal as an opportunity to shift the story along – to change the scene, new viewpoint, or bring some surprise, like a new event or new character into the story. The hope is the reader turns the page with some anticipation.
Planning the layout of the story in terms of spreads is really useful.
It is not meant to get in the way of the fun of drawing a story. All ages and abilities can have a go.
The aim is to produce a maximum of 8 pages of text and illustration. It would be preferred if no more than 3 sentences (or less) a page is used. More than that may mean the room for illustration is too small.
All eight pages require some illustration. Either large or small.
Your story should have a snappy title located on a separate title page.
The development of the Writing Challenge written stories is due largely to passion, drive and energy of renown young adult author Michael Hyde and the picture stories development is due to the support and help of Craig Smith.