Writers' Tips

Read the notes below from top authors to get more advice on how to write a cracking story!

Stephanie Burgis

Whenever you wonder what should happen next in your story, think: 'What would make things most difficult for my hero/heroine? What would be the most awkward thing that could possibly happen to them now?' Put your character through the wringer! It may feel cruel, but it makes great drama.

Don Calame

Always write for yourself first. What will you have the most fun writing about? Don’t worry about your audience or what’s popular right now.

What scares you the most? What makes you laugh the hardest? What is the most painful thing you can think of? The most embarrassing? Write from these deeply emotional places.

Read a lot and read widely: mystery, fantasy, horror, humor, realistic fiction, non-fiction, everything you can get your hands on.

Simon Bartram

Look at the world through your characters' eyes. Walk in their shoes. Know how they would react to any given situation.

Always carry a notebook or sketchpad wherever you go. Ideas rarely come when sitting at your table staring at a blank page.

Cressida Cowell

My advice would be to jump right into the middle of a story, and grab the attention with the very first sentence. 'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen' writes George Orwell at the beginning of '1984', and the reader immediately asks themselves, why? What could possibly have happened to make the clocks strike thirteen?

Frances Hardinge

If your finished story is longer than it should be, think carefully about which parts of it are the most important, and which can be cut out. Is there any repetition? Is there a character who doesn't really do or add anything? Is there a conversation that is too long or unnecessary?

Johnny O'Brien

Steal characters from history – or even better have them appear in your books. Usually much more interesting and weird than anything you could make up. For example, Christopher Marlowe was a playwright, secret agent and all round deviant and was murdered when only 29. On his portrait are the words ‘what feeds me destroys me'.

Graham Marks

It's good to remember that any setting can be exciting, if something exciting's happening in it. That said, finding somewhere interesting - say, for example, a ranch in Kansas, or the streets of Chicago in 1928 - can be a big help to writing a page-turning story!

Justin Somper

Think about how your character talks. Are they verbose or brisk? Formal or informal? Do they have an accent? Do they use slang? Getting the character’s voice right is half the battle for me.

Michelle Harrison

Using old legends or folklore as a starting point immediately creates a background – and even characters, if you choose - for your story. Try changing bits of these tales to suit you, and if there are parts that leave you with questions, use your imagination to fill in the answers.

Cathy Hopkins

If writing romance, create a heroine that readers will identify with and think, yeah, that could be me. Think about what she looks like, what her external world is like and what her internal world is like.

Claire Freedman

To make your story funny, give your character a funny characteristic – ie clumsiness. Then put him in a situation where he must be very, very careful!

Sophie McKenzie

For me, the secret to writing thrillers is to make sure the plot has many twists and turns and that everything that happens is unexpected and yet convincing.

Characters who have something important to gain or lose and relationships where there's a lot at stake are equally vital.

And, when you're writing about ordinary people thrust into extraordinary situations (which I love to do!) you have to make sure that any fantasy elements (such as developing psychic abilities) obey their own internal logic.

Meg Rosoff

My best writing tip is to write from your heart and keep writing.

If you get stuck, don’t quit – just keep going. Pretend you're trying to run five miles. Go another ten steps. And another. And another.

You might not be the fastest, or the most graceful, but eventually you'll get where you're going.

Mick Inkpen

Do you get stuck when you try to think of ideas?

Well, here's something I tried once: I didn't try to think of a beginning, or an ending. . . or any kind of story at all. I just made a list. Easy peasy.

It was all about balloons.

Balloons are:

And suddenly I thought my balloon should be indestructible. With a mind of its own.

Then an idea popped into my head for an ending. And last of all, a beginning.

Loads and loads of people have read The Blue Balloon. Maybe loads and loads of people will read your story too! So try making a list. It will get your head unstuck.

Good luck!