Show don’t tell is a phrase you may have heard before. Writing that shows us things about the character gets the reader more involved in the story than writing that tells the same information. Below are some examples of showing vs telling.

You could say:
“She was sad that he had left.”
Or you could show the reader, by saying:
“She stood watching his car drive away until she could no longer see it.”

You could say:
“He was afraid that the teacher would yell at him.”
Or you could say: Continue reading →

Ideas for writing are everywhere – it’s just a matter of noticing them. You might like to try carrying a notebook with you so you can write down ideas as they come to you. You might not use all of them straight away, but you can always come back to them for inspiration when you’re feeling stuck. Below you’ll find a list of creative writing exercises to inspire ideas for settings, plots, characters and conversations you might be able to use in your stories. You can try doing as many or as few of the exercises as you like. Continue reading →

There are lots of different types of poetry. You may have already come across some at school. Just like books, there will some you like and some you don’t. Poetry comes in many forms, including haiku, sonnet, limerick, pantoum and free verse. Sometimes working to a form can inspire ideas. Try researching different poetry forms to see which ones appeal to you. If you want to try your hand at writing poetry, you might like to try one of the ideas below. Continue reading →