What do you think?
Rate this book
How To Write a Great Story
Caroline Lawrence shares her best tips in this illustrated guide to creative writing and storytelling for readers and writers aged 9+. . .
Featuring examples from all kinds of stories, including Black Panther, Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter, The Incredibles and Star Wars, Caroline explores every aspect of writing - from brainstorming a setting, to creating an opponent and choosing your hero's greatest weakness.
Inspired by Caroline's school events and workshops, and illustrated with Linzie Hunter's lively black and white artwork on every page, this is the perfect addition to the bookshelves of young writers everywhere.
Featuring examples from all kinds of stories, including Black Panther, Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter, The Incredibles and Star Wars, Caroline explores every aspect of writing - from brainstorming a setting, to creating an opponent and choosing your hero's greatest weakness.
Inspired by Caroline's school events and workshops, and illustrated with Linzie Hunter's lively black and white artwork on every page, this is the perfect addition to the bookshelves of young writers everywhere.
- GenresNonfictionWriting
192 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 22, 2019
6 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Caroline Lawrence
85 books321 followersCaroline Lawrence won a scholarship to Cambridge to read Classical Archaeology, then did a degree in Hebrew and Jewish studies at University College London. She now lives in London with her English husband and teaches Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Art and French to children.
Series:
* Roman Mysteries
Western Mysteries
Series:
* Roman Mysteries
Western Mysteries
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 15, 2020
Слишком стара для этого
November 30, 2021
This is a great recap of all the elements of a story. It's written very briefly and gives a personal explanation of each element, all with fun illustrations.
The main criticism I have is none of the elements discussed seemed to be in any logical order. For example, we learn bits and pieces of story structure throughout the book. The Midpoint is discussed somewhere at the start, then near the end of the book, Caroline writes about story plot (with a brief description) of each part of the plot. Another example is where she talks about book titles- twice. One subheading is 'titles' another is 'working titles'. To me, this should be together or at the very least near each other. But no, it's between like seven different topics which are not related in the slightest.
Not only does this confuse people still learning, it is repetitive. And to me, this reads alot like a beginner book (nothing in-depth) and yet, the layout of this book is obscure and makes no sense to a beginner. The topics are sprinkled randomly throughout with no thought of how this could confuse people.
I also noticed this book doesn't provide a contents page - I imagine this is because if you provided a structure, the reader would quickly realise how disorganised this book is.
So my overall thought is this is definitely a recap of all the elements, rather then a guide or a step by step (which it advertises itself to be). Caroline provides very basic examples of her own work and pop culture novels like the hunger games ect. It's easy to read and understand, though in would love if there was some structure to this, you know, like a normal book. I would only give this to a child to read as a recap, not a introduction.
The main criticism I have is none of the elements discussed seemed to be in any logical order. For example, we learn bits and pieces of story structure throughout the book. The Midpoint is discussed somewhere at the start, then near the end of the book, Caroline writes about story plot (with a brief description) of each part of the plot. Another example is where she talks about book titles- twice. One subheading is 'titles' another is 'working titles'. To me, this should be together or at the very least near each other. But no, it's between like seven different topics which are not related in the slightest.
Not only does this confuse people still learning, it is repetitive. And to me, this reads alot like a beginner book (nothing in-depth) and yet, the layout of this book is obscure and makes no sense to a beginner. The topics are sprinkled randomly throughout with no thought of how this could confuse people.
I also noticed this book doesn't provide a contents page - I imagine this is because if you provided a structure, the reader would quickly realise how disorganised this book is.
So my overall thought is this is definitely a recap of all the elements, rather then a guide or a step by step (which it advertises itself to be). Caroline provides very basic examples of her own work and pop culture novels like the hunger games ect. It's easy to read and understand, though in would love if there was some structure to this, you know, like a normal book. I would only give this to a child to read as a recap, not a introduction.
September 23, 2023
This is a great how-to-book for children/teenagers who want to write mystery/detective stories of their own.
It's also a great book for teachers who teach creative writing to children/teenagers.
Writers who want to write children's mystery novels will also profit from reading it, as children's books aren't as complex in regard to plot, structure, and character development as mystery/detective novels for adults.
Writers who write mystery/detective novels for grown-ups will find the information contained in this book a bit superficial.
This book was written for children/teenagers, not adults.
It's also a great book for teachers who teach creative writing to children/teenagers.
Writers who want to write children's mystery novels will also profit from reading it, as children's books aren't as complex in regard to plot, structure, and character development as mystery/detective novels for adults.
Writers who write mystery/detective novels for grown-ups will find the information contained in this book a bit superficial.
This book was written for children/teenagers, not adults.
June 15, 2020
Excellent
I love this book. Easy to follow. It is a complete book. I was able understand many I didn't before. Really is a great book.
I love this book. Easy to follow. It is a complete book. I was able understand many I didn't before. Really is a great book.
January 16, 2024
Useful little title
June 18, 2024
A book for all ages, for anyone interested in storytelling, for anyone who has a creative mind and wants new approaches to stretching their own creativity.
April 10, 2025
This was very helpful when I started writing. I still reference it to this day and go back to it whenever I need a simple reminder.
July 21, 2020
Un pequeño libro con grandes dosis de inspiración para que pequeños y grandes se animen a escribir esa historia que llevan dentro.
November 4, 2019
Gave me some great tips for writing stories
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews