What's Your Story?

Writers go to conferences to learn how to write better, make writer friends, and get closer to God. 

Hi, this is Sherry and I’m heading to the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference tomorrow for five whole days. I’ll miss my family like crazy, but I’m looking forward to learning all I can to make my stories shine.

Do you like to write? Have you ever written a story just for fun?

Idea: Look inside a clothing catalog and cut out characters for a story. Tape them inside a notebook and give each one a name, then let your imagination take flight!

Here are ten tips to writing a good story:

1. Develop interesting characters.

2. Create a plot, in other words, what happens in your story.

3. Decide on who’s going to tell the story, or the point of view (POV). First person uses the pronoun ‘I’ while third person uses ‘he’ and ‘she.’

4. Write a catchy first paragraph.

5. Sprinkle in meaningful dialogue.

6. Use action beats. Have your characters doing something to show who is speaking. For example: “I’m hot. I need a drink of water.” Emma wiped the sweat from her forehead.

7. Add setting and description so the reader knows where the characters are in the story.

8. Make sure you have conflict and tension. Something has to happen in your story that makes it difficult for your character, both an inward struggle and external forces.

9. Build the story to a climax. The turning point is the most exciting and dramatic part of the story, which causes your character to make a decision.

10. End with a bang. The last few lines of the story should leave readers satisfied and wanting more.

Jesus loved to tell stories. If you look through the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), you can find parables. A parable is a story that illustrates a lesson. In your Bible, find Luke 15: 11-32. Who are the characters? What do they say? Do they learn something?

It’s time for me to pack for my conference. I’m looking forward to growing my faith, meeting writer friends, learning more about the fundamentals of writing, and having some FUN!

Let me know if you write a story! 

Sherry