成人快手

Video summary

Novelist Rebecca Abrams offers advice for young aspiring fiction writers by offering tips on how to: find inspiration; learn about writing dialogue; dream up characters; devise plots; and so fill that frightening empty page.

But above all, she says, it is important to remember that no one expects someone to pick up a violin and play it straightaway.

It is the same with writing 鈥 you have to learn the basics, build on them, and practise.

This clip is from the series How to Write.

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Teacher Notes

This clip can be used to show students the importance of not always relying on inspiration for a story to come from external sources, but that many stories can be inspired by their own lives.

Students are asked to recall the last conversation they had with a close friend by text or phone (they can edit this as appropriate).

Can they write the basic gist of the conversation down as two characters speaking?

What ideas does this give them for a story?

Can they use these ideas as the basis for writing a short story of their own?

This clip is relevant for teaching English Literature at KS3 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and 3rd and 4th Level in Scotland.

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Philip Pullman on his novels. video

Author Philip Pullman gives fascinating insights into the workings of a novelist's mind.

Philip Pullman on his novels

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Michael Morpurgo on storywriting. video

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Michael Morpurgo on storywriting
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