Story writing weekly 10-minute practice
23.01.25
❓ Are you writing stories with your child for 11+ revision?
❓ Are they struggling to think of the main ideas for the story?
❓ Do the stories lack structure?
❓ Are their stories too complicated?
❓ Do they run out of time?
Try this 10-minute story-writing task. ⏰
This activity is beneficial for all writing students, whether they are solely revising for the shorter CSSE or FSCE writing exams or the longer tasks set by other grammars for the second-stage or independent school writing exams.|
• ✏️ It's an excellent task to focus the mind.
• ✏️It's an excellent task to focus on the key story structure.
• ✏️ It's an excellent task to get used to time pressure.
• ✏️ It's an excellent task to revise how to start and end stories.
• ✏️ It's an excellent task to repeat weekly.
• ✏️ And it's often a welcome task because it's only 10 minutes long!
WARNING❗️
Your child might feel extremely unsatisfied or frustrated doing this task, as the depth they can include will be minimal. Please remind them that the purpose of this task is to help them think of a solid story with a simple structure under a bit of time pressure.
Getting ready
Grab some paper, a pencil, and a picture to get started (you could use the image in this post for your first go).
Or try one of these story titles:
• The Storm
• The Beast
• Wolfgar, the unlikely king
• The Forest
• Explosion!
• Lost and never found
Thinking/planning – 1 minute
Before you start writing, take a good look at the picture or think for one minute about the story title you have chosen. If you can, jot down some ideas on your paper for the beginning, middle and end of this story. You will only have time to use notes. For example, for the beginning, if you are describing the sea, just write:- Beginning – describe sea
Beginning – 3 minutes • Write the beginning of your story.
• Create a setting sentence and introduce the main character.
Middle – 4 minutes
• The problem: write the main conflict of your story.
• Is there a vicious creature stealthily approaching someone?
• Could someone be lost on an island?
Ending – 2 minutes
• The most convenient ending for this age group and quick stories written under extreme pressure is a cliffhanger (an unresolved ending). Even one sentence showing the story is unresolved is better than leaving it unfinished because time has run out. The cliffhanger should be directly related to the character's journey and unresolved conflicts. It should keep the same tone as the rest of the story.
Unresolved / cliffhanger ideas:-
• The ending may hint at the character's sudden realisation about themselves (i.e., they are no good at fighting sea dragons).
• It may offer hope and redemption.
• It may use a statement or a rhetorical question.
What length should this be?
It depends on writing speed, but children will get quicker the more they do this. Try writing at least seven sentences.