YOUR TURN!

Once you have written the stories from one style, it’s time for you to come up with your very own! You should know what one of these stories looks like now, but if you need a reminder, then look back at the guide at the beginning of the section.

It’s important to have a clear idea of the characters, settings and plot. Take a look at an example using some of my starter drawings! Try to include as much detail as possible. The more thought you put into your plan, the better your story will be! There’s a template as well to help. 

Of course, you don’t have to draw your story. Plans can come in lots of forms, such as quick notes or bullet-pointed lists. Good luck!   

50 Story Starters

1.  I didn’t mean to do it. 

2.  The air turned black all around me.

3.  Icy fingers gripped my arm in the darkness.

4.  Something was watching me. 

5.  The eyes in the painting follow him down the corridor. 

6.  A shrill cry echoed in the mist

7.  He tried to get his bearings on the isolated beach. 

8.  Footsteps slowly creaked on every step of the stairs. The bedroom door handle turned slowly. 

9.  Trouble lurked in every doorway. 

10.  My hair stood on end, a shiver raced down my spine and a lump came to my throat. It was him...

11.  The gravestones stood silently, row upon row like soldiers long forgotten. A scream shattered the silence...

12.  It was there and then it had gone, why would a rabbit be on my bathroom floor? 

13.  Bleary-eyed, I went downstairs for breakfast; the house was empty, even the furniture had gone...

14.  The lights flickered and then went off, then the sirens started. It was coming, and we knew it wouldn’t be the last time...

15.  The date was 13th July, my 345th birthday... it would be my last...

16.  Three of us.  We were the only ones left, the only ones to make it to the island.

17.  "What have you done?" the headmaster bellowed, all eyes now turned to me.

18.  Dad just sat and cried.  He cried for three whole days.

19.  The clock stopped... 74 minutes past 18...it was time to get up.

20.  The car screamed to a halt. Four men wearing masks jumped out and ran into the nearest building. I looked around; the street was deserted except for me. 

21.  Everything stopped. People were stood like statues all around me: people in cars, men on bicycles, babies in prams; all lifeless, frozen in time. 

22.  I had never seen a ghost.  But, like they say, there is a first time for everything. 

23.  He opened the safe and it had gone. No one had the code, who could have opened it? 

24.  Grey and foreboding, the castle stood atop the hill looking down across the small town. In the topmost window of the highest tower stood a small boy called... 

25.  Am I in heaven?  What happened to me? 

26.  Closer and closer it came; it was getting bigger and bigger. Soon, it filled the sky above.

27.  He wandered aimlessly through the house, seeking any form of distraction to avoid the inevitable doom. 

28.  Peeking through the window, her surprise turned to horror...

29.  I woke up with a start: something was in my room.  The wooden doors opened and it came out of my wardrobe.

30.  "Witches don't exist!" My Gran's words echoed around my head as the horrific visage gurned at me through my bedroom window.

31.  Keeping watch at the side of the ship, George was tiring, his eyes weary from constantly searching the horizon. Were they also playing tricks on him?  What was that on the rocks? 

32.  The two coins in his pocket clinked together as he stumbled down the cold pavement, the holes in his shoes turning his feet into blocks of ice. His heart was warmed though in the knowledge that he was rich.

33.  The phone rang. "Hello," I said, "Hello." No one was there.  I hung up. All the lights went out...

34.  Wrapped up warm against the icy fingers of dusk, the caretaker closed the cemetery gates. 

35.  Hundreds of eyes peered at me through the darkness.

36.  It was the day the moon vanished. 

37.  I heard the music as I entered the room, but all that was there was a violin, lying there on its back on the bare floorboards.

38.  I couldn't believe a word he told me anymore. Why had he brought me here?

39.  Cold and wet, tired and exhausted, she made her way along the path through the forest. 

40.  Everything stopped; everything was a statue all around me. Frozen in time. 

41.  "Help me!" Help me!" came the call from behind the steel door. 

42.  "Welcome to the future!" said the teacher as she removed the sheet with a flourish revealing what had been hidden beneath. 

43.  My next door neighbours, The Johnsons, were all asleep in their coffins when I climbed the fence to get the ball. 

44.  It moved… Why was it moving?

45.  I hadn't seen the door before.  It wasn't there last night.  Cautiously, I turned the handle.

46.  It was time. She would get her revenge. 

47.  It was a bright, frosty morning. The pavement glistened like a carpet of crushed diamonds in the early morning sunshine. 

48.  As she walked along the street the tiny dragon in her pocket stirred restlessly. 

49.  Just after he died, he sat up.

50.  It was time. 

More Inspiration!

• Films Pour Enfants - https://www.films-pour-enfants.com/en/index.html# 

English language version of a great site full of inspirational videos. 

• Literacy shed - https://www.literacyshed.com/ 

A great site for visual stimuli, including images and videos.

• Once upon a picture - https://www.onceuponapicture.co.uk/ 

Another source of great visual stimuli. 

• Alan Peat Exciting Sentences - https://www.childokeford.dorset.sch.uk/_site/data/files/students/ash/Alan-Peats-Sentences-Structures.pdf 

A great resource for building a wide range of interesting sentences. 

• If you would like to contact the creator of this resource, you can do so at:

seewritecreate@gmail.com