How To Help Your Child Write A Story

Writing creative stories is an intuitive way for your child to not only learn English but also build their essay writing skills. When children translate their thoughts into written words, they don't just learn new vocabulary, but also how to use the words correctly in sentences. 

This is especially useful for children growing up in non-English speaking countries, such as Korea or China, where English writing might be challenging due to limited exposure.

For such children and even those native to English-speaking nations, practice holds the key to overcoming hurdles in writing. 

Below is a  guide to help your child start writing their own short, creative stories:

1. Brainstorming

Start with the basics - one character, one event. Encourage your child to think of a simple story focused on one character. The character can be based on real life or come straight from their imagination, but the goal is to describe and develop the character in detail. 

Then, discuss one event involving this character and how they handle it. Ideas can come from a variety of sources - their personal experiences, family outings, trips, school incidents and more.

2. Crafting a Plan

Before delving into their writing adventure, having a well-structured plan is crucial. A clear, paragraph-based plan provides organization and guides the writing process. The child should outline the story's main events and arrange them into a series of paragraphs.

This approach not only ensures a coherent narrative but also encourages the child to write in well-organized paragraphs rather than a single, continuous block.

For instance, in a story about a boy finding a lost puppy, a plan might look like this:

Paragraph 1: The boy sees a lost puppy in the park.

Paragraph 2: The boy wants to help the puppy find its home.

Paragraph 3: The boy and the puppy start looking around the neighborhood.

Paragraph 4: Finally, they find the puppy's owner and the boy returns the puppy.

This organized plan will help the child stay focused on the story's progression and ensure that their writing remains clear and enjoyable to read.

3. Writing the Story

Using the plan as a guide, the child can start writing the real story. Simple sentences that tell the main idea of each paragraph are a good start. Then, the child can add more sentences to share how the character feels. This helps to make the story more interesting and unforgettable.

4. Checking 

Now it's time to look over the story and make some changes. Read the story with your child and think about each word and sentence. Does every part help the story? Is there a word or sentence that is unclear or could be removed?

Working together to decide what to keep and what to remove will help your child improve their writing skills.

5. Finding and Fixing Mistakes

The next part of editing is to find mistakes and fix them. This can include spelling errors, wrong tense usage, or problems with punctuation and capital letters.

6. Checking for Missing Information

In the final step, see if anything needs to be added to the story. Help your child find parts where the story stops making sense or is hard to understand. Then, add connecting or descriptive sentences to fill in those gaps.

Final Words

By following these steps, your child can get better at creative writing. Practicing these steps with different writing ideas and prompts will help your child learn to write in English and improve their storytelling skills. Encourage your child to write their own stories, and they'll gain a skill they can use for the rest of their lives.

Don't forget to explore our resources for even more writing prompts and tips that can help your child improve their writing skills.