Write a great story
We asked award-winning author
David Baddiel to tell us his six top tips for storywriting success. This is what he said: 1. Think of a good idea and start writing. 2. Keep writing. It doesn’t really matter at this stage where the story is going
– use the original idea to power through whatever comes to mind.
3. About a third of the way into the story, you’ll probably realise you’ve gone as far as you can with it – but that third you’ve written will have thrown up some new possibilities and ideas.
4. Change the third you’ve written to reflect your new ideas. For example, if it’s a detective story, you might realise your sleuth needs an assistant. You don’t want to introduce a main character a third of the way through, so go back and write the assistant in early. You might also have ideas for a sub-plot – a side story, connected to the main story.
5. Once you’ve made all the necessary fixes to the first bit, start writing again.
6. Towards the end of the middle third, the story’s end should start hovering into view. Be prepared for this to change everything! When you realise what the end is, it may be that you have to scrap lots of what you’ve already written, or even write five whole new chapters, for everything to make sense. However, if you’ve got a good main plot and a sub-plot going, tying them together will help bring the story to a close. David Baddiel has followed his own advice, and his latest
book, Birthday Boy, is in shops now.