Tell your child to read a book and they’ll tell you it’s OK, this book is a film on streaming services now, so there’s no need to actually read the book. It’s not a problem with imagination that children have when it comes to enjoying a good story, it’s a problem with the delivery. See, if the story is being read to them, the character voices and the build-ups and the quiet parts are all narrated in keeping with the rhythm of the prose. But when they’re on their own? That’s like asking a child to be excited about someone else’s imagination, rather than using their own. That’s why children love storytime. And what they love even more than storytime is writing their own stories. This will light up their thinking caps with bells and whistles, and keep them occupied for entire hours, what with drawing the characters too, and designing a front cover. Here’s how.

Writing a story from scratch

In the adult world, there are seven established pathways or ‘plotlines’ that build convincing narratives. It is very difficult to write a good children’s book, but you can get some great advice here. When it comes to your child writing their first story, we’re going to borrow heavily from one of these seven types of story: “overcoming the monster”. For this, you will need a beginning, middle, and end (and you’re going to need printer ink, lots and lots of printer ink because if there’s one thing that kids love to do with their word documents, it’s hit print, you have been warned – see https://www.printerinks.com/11/2p-n-011/inkjet-and-toner-cartridges/xerox/)

Once upon a time…

The beginning of the story should start with a disaster caused by the “monster”. This means you’ll need a location and a villain. Let’s say the location is a castle and the villain is a dragon. The disaster could be an attack on the castle, in which the dragon steals treasure from the king and queen.

The resistance begins…

The middle of the story should contain the voyage of a hero or heroes that fight the villain to right the wrong that was done at the start. In our example, we’re going to suggest that a brave prince and princess duo set off to challenge the dragon for the stolen treasure. Along the way, they’ll have to help each other to climb through the branches over a swamp that contains mythical ‘mud-sharks’. Again, ask your child to write what’s happening and draw the scene as they imagine it.

The end…

The dragon is defeated, the treasure is recovered, etc. An obvious ending, but kids aren’t looking for a twist. And if your child struggles with the drawing element, check out free online drawing lessons for children for great tips.