Story Writing Worksheets
Children, as well as adults, love to use their imagination and create wonderful stories! They can come up with fantasies that take them to another world, and sometimes the stories they come up with are funny, cute, and very interesting. Take J.K. Rowling for example. She created the Harry Potter books that have become so famous that movies were made from her novels. Who would have thought someone could come up with such a wonderful world of wizards, witches, and flying cars? Have students create their own story from a scene that is presented.
- Create Your Own Story in Parts: Aliens in My Room - You wake and a bunch of glowing friends are looking at you... Again with the Aliens? Yeah, sorry about this one. It just popped into my head while writing the other one. Most kids like it a lot though.
- Zoo Writing Activity - You take a fictious trip to the zoo. Tell us all about it. We are going to throw a few situations your way too. We have you pretend that you take a trip to the zoo with a few family members and some friends. Situations arise and we ask you to tell us how you would handle them.
- Easter Story and Caption Contest - This one is alot of fun for the whole class. So be sure to check it out. This has two parts that are both related to the Easter Holiday. The first one is a class contest for coolest one sentence caption. The second page requires you to write a story based on a picture.
- Create Your Own Story: In the Field - We get a bit carried away with our UFOs again. UFOs! Yeah, we went there. What is our fascination with UFOs as of late? One of our writers lives in a town where they have the most reported UFO sightings in North America. Yes, they have a festival to celebrate and everything.
- Create Your Own Story: On the Boat - We have you draw a boat and then tell us a story all about it. We ask you to tell us about a scene that you draw on a boat. It is a little out there for some students, but we dig it!
- Baseball
- Bungee Jumping
- Climbing A Mountain
- Graduation
- Outerspace
- Pie Burglar
- Piggy Delivery
- Running To Work
- Underwater
- Theme Park
- Winning
How to Plan to Write a Story?
Writing isn't an easy skill. It requires a lot of reading and practice to become a good writer. Are you frustrated because you are not able to write the perfect story? Are you struggling with words? Don't worry! You have come to the right place.
The first time doing something right results from the planning that goes behind it. This is especially true when you are attempting to write a story.
If you don't plan your thoughts, chances are your story will lack sequence and structure and may appear confusing to the reader. If you want your reader to be hooked from the very beginning, you need to invest the time to plan your story.
According to research conducted by a Ph.D. Candidate at SKEMA Business School, project success can largely be attributed to project planning. We can apply the same theory to writing. This research shows how planning is a major contributing factor to success. Hence, if you plan your story, it will likely be successful.
Some Helpful Tips for Planning to Write a Story (A Step-by-Step Guide)
If you're thinking of writing the perfect story or novel, we have just the tips that will help you accomplish your goals quickly.
There are two types of people in the creative writing community. Those who plan and plot out their story before starting (planner) and those who start and invent as they continue writing (pantser). One should be a combination of both. Neither should you entirely rely on your pre-written plan, and nor should you over-rely on your creativity.
Let's get into it then. Here are some basics that you need to be mindful of.
1. Brainstorm Ideas before starting
You can start by taking a piece of paper and making word clouds that will help you visually represent your thoughts.
You can also use online word cloud generators to do this that will make your life easier, but there is nothing more satisfying than organizing your thoughts and ideas with the power of a good pen and paper.
2. Develop a series of events
Once you have developed ideas for writing your novel, you need to organize them sequentially; for example, you should know when to introduce the story's main character and the events leading to perhaps the introduction of another character.
This doesn't have to be too detailed, but you should have a rough idea about where to begin your story and the events that follow.
A story that lacks structure can be too confusing for the reader, so you should invest as much time as you can in this. You don't want your reader to lose interest.
3. Decide the main character and give names to all the characters in your story
Every story has a main character around which everything is centered. All the events in your story have something to do with the main character - the star of the story.
The main character is always the most unique, so take your time and think about how to make him or her stand out.
They can either be a good or an evil character; it's entirely at your discretion. The main character is like the writer's muse, and more often than not, they are the reason why the writer is writing the story.
An example of a famous main character is Harry Potter from the Harry Potter series written by J.K Rowling.
So do justice to the main character! The trick is to draft the main character as such that
the whole audience falls in love with them, regardless of whether they are good or evil.
4. Establish clear goals with regards to the main character
Once you have given thought to who your main character will be, it is essential to think about goals.
There are two types of goals; External Goals that include the external forces around the main character, which is also a source of motivation for the character.
For example, in Disney Pixar's award-winning animated movie Finding Nemo, the primary motivation of Marlin (Nemo's dad) is to find Nemo at all costs. The other type of goals are Internal Goals, which are the intrinsic motivations of the character that cause them to behave the way they do.
5. Decide on the Setting
Once you have a clear idea about your main character, you need to decide where the sequence of events will occur.
Whether your story evolves in a small town or is entirely fictional like the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter series, you must decide this beforehand and think about all the details you need to provide the reader about the setting to tap their sensory perception.
6. Take inspiration from your favorite books and authors
Always be original with your ideas, thoughts, and writing, but there is no harm in taking inspiration from your favorite authors. You will learn a few great things from all of your favorite books. So, start reading!
7. Make your first draft in one sitting
The first draft of your story should be written in the shortest possible time, as this is a discovery process.
Imagine you are an archaeologist trying to find the remains of an ancient city. At this point, you only have an idea about where the city might be but no clue about what it will look like once it is unearthed.
So, speed up while writing the first draft of your story.
8. Gather feedback
It may be a good idea to ask someone to review your first draft. Getting another perspective will help you improve your writing and improve your storyline. There may be some things in your opening that you may have missed, which will help you identify the gaps in your work.
Remember that a strong opening is going to help gain the reader's interest from the very beginning.
It is essential to understand that writing skills take time to develop. You may have invested all the time in planning, but your first draft may not always come out perfect on the first attempt.
So, be patient and follow these planning steps to write your best story. Good luck and Happy Writing!