rob lloyd jones’s six story challenges...rob lloyd jones is the award winning children’s author...

CHALLENGE 1 – FAVOURITE STORIES

Hello all!

My name is Rob and I write stories. I’ve been an author for over a decade, and along the way I’ve learned a few tips and tricks to make writing stories easier. Because it can be a scary thing to do. Sometimes I think it’s like going for a walk. If you don’t know where to go then it’s easy to get lost. But if you have a guide or map then you’ll be much more confident to set off on your adventure.

Often, authors create a map of their story before they begin writing. For me, this especially helps when I’m feeling uncertain. I just look at my story map and feel a more confident about where the story is going.

That’s what these short challenges are all about – creating your own map, or plan, for your story. By the end you’ll be all set to begin writing your own amazing story!

Just remember there is no such thing as a bad story or a wrong story, so there are no wrong answers. That’s the best thing about storytelling: as long as you’re enjoying it no one can say you’re doing it wrong. There are so many rules in life – always brush your teeth, make your bed, don’t pick your nose…. Stories are the one place where there are NO RULES whatsoever. Your characters can do anything and your story can go anywhere, no matter how wild or outrageous.

So get your story hats on!

The first thing I’d like to ask is really simple… What is your favourite story, and why?

Pick a story you love, think about why you love it so much, and then write that down in a few sentences. Don’t just say ‘because its cool’ – I’d like you to think about why it is cool. What about the story appealed to?

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Rob Lloyd Jones’s Six Story Challenges Rob Lloyd Jones is the award winning children’s author of over 80 books, including the Wild Boy and Jake Atlas adventure novels for Walker Books and the best-selling See inside and Look inside books for Usborne Publishing.

Here he shares six story-telling tips, and sets six simple challenges to help you write your own amazing story.

JAKE ATLAS TOMB ROBBER,

TREASURE HUNTER, TROUBLEMAKER

A couple of days ago I was a schoolboy with terrible grades and even worse behaviour. I had the world’s strictest parents, a sister who would barely talk to me and a way of

causing trouble that drove people nuts.

Now I am a member of a super high-tech treasure-hunting team searching for a

lost tomb so I can save my parents from being turned into mummies

by an evil cult.

Things have moved pretty fast…

E

#JakeAtlas

www.walker.co.uk

£6.99 UK ONLY

eBookavailable

Also by Rob Lloyd Jones

Praise for Wild Boy:

“Good fun and jolly hair-raising” The Times

“A gripping murder mystery” Sunday Express

“A pacy, atmospheric and thrilling adventure” Metro

JAatTotS_9781406361445_PC_UK.indd All Pages 20/10/2016 11:04

Rob Lloyd Jones is the award winning children’s author of over 80 books, including the Wild Boy and ‘Jake Atlas’ novels for Walker Books, and the best-selling See inside and Look inside books for Usborne Publishing. His most recent series of nov-els, Jake Atlas and the Keys of the Apocalypse was published in 2020, and is perfect for projects on the ancient world. Here he shares six story-telling tips, and sets you six simple challenges, to set you well on your way to writing your own amazing story.

TIPS FOR CHALLENGE No. 1...

Think about is how your favourite story makes you feel. Good stories are packed with big feelings – anger, excitement, sadness, happiness, relief and others. Once a reader feels something for the characters (‘She’s so funny!” “Grrr, this person makes me mad!”) they want to follow them through all their adventures. Think about the difference between STORY and PLOT. PLOT is the stuff that happens. STORY is who it is happening to, why they are doing it and how they feel about it. Story is all about CHARACTERS. That’s why we turn pages in a book – not because of the stuff that’s happening, but because we care about who it is happening to. Try to think about the characters in your favourite story. Are they the reason you love that story so much?

Once you have written down why you love your favourite story, we can move on to the next challenge – which is all about characters.

Good luck!

Rob

Here are some books Rob wrote using these tips. His ‘Wild Boy’ novels are perfect for anyone studying the Victorian times, while the ‘Jake Atlas’ adventures are ideal for topics on the ancient world. They’re also great stories! Find out more atwww.roblloydjones.com







by an evil cult.


E

#JakeAtlas

www.walker.co.uk

£6.99 UK ONLY

eBookavailable







CHALLENGE 2 – FAVOURITE CHARACTERS

Hello everyone,

I hope you enjoyed your first challenge, thinking about why you love your favourite story, and how that story makes you feel. Now that you know how stories can make you feel things, I want to think a bit more about the characters in your favourite stories.

So, your next challenge is to think of your favourite character in any story and describe that character in a few sentences. It doesn’t have to be a hero – it could be a villain, or just a minor character that you particularly remember.

Really think about why you like that character. Don’t write too much about the character’s clothes and appearance. Actually, that’s not very interesting. I bet the reason you like them isn’t because of what they wear. I suspect it’s because of how they ACT and BEHAVE, and what sort of persomn they are. Do you find them funny, determined, a risk-taker, or even scary?

Have fun thinking about your favourite characters. For the next challenge, we’ll begin to create characters of our own.

Happy writing!

Rob Lloyd Jones










by an evil cult.


E

#JakeAtlas

www.walker.co.uk

£6.99 UK ONLY

eBookavailable







CHALLENGE 3 – CREATING CHARACTERS

Hi everyone,

We’ve chatted about what makes a good story, and what makes good characters. Now maybe you could think up a character of your own to tell a story about?

So, for the next challenge, I’d like you to imagine a character you want to write about, and tell me a bit about him or her (or ‘it’, if it’s not a human!). Describe thecharacter in a few sentences – and let you imaginations go wild!

Remember, don’t worry too much about what the character looks like (unless what they look like is important to the story). Instead, think about how they ACT and BEHAVE. I suspect you remember the things characters do, and the good and bad decisions they make, far more than their appearance.

Maybe you could write one sentence about what they look like, and then two or three about the type of person they are. Oh, and also – of course - give the character a name!

Good luck!

Rob Lloyd Jones




..

CHALLENGE 4 - STARTING A STORY

Hello all

Now that you have written a little bit about a character you’d like to tell a story about, let’s get busy telling their story!

Stories can seem like scary things, but remember what we learned in the first challenge – if you first create a map or guide to show you the way, writing a story is much easier. But where do we begin?

Well, most stories begin with a character living their normal life. One important thing to remember is is that your character’s ‘normal’ life doesn’t have to be normal life to you and me – but for them, in their world, it is simply what they do all the time.

In my novel Wild Boy, we meet the main character living his normal life as a performer on a fairground freak show, spying on people, fighting and stealing to survive. To the reader it is unusual, exciting and intriguing – but to Wild Boy it is simple everyday life, same old same old.

But you can’t keep writing about normal life forever. Stories are about things happening. You need to make SOMETHING HAPPEN to thrust the character from their normal life and into an adventure. In Wild Boy that SOMETHING is when he defends a friend against a villain, and so he has to run away. He then has to steal money to survive, which ends up with him discovering a mysterious letter – and after that the story takes off.

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So, for this challenge, I would like you to think of your character’s normal life that you have all described, and then think what THING could happen to them that would thrust them into an adventure.

Remember, most stories go like this:

Once upon a time there was a (CHARACTER)Every day he/she (NORMAL LIFE)

Until one day (BIG STORY START MOMENT)Because of that (THE REST OF THE STORY!)

Perhaps begin by saying your character is living that ‘normal life’ and then use words like these: ‘But then…’, ‘But one day…’ ‘or ‘Then suddenly…’

Good luck!

Rob








by an evil cult.


E

#JakeAtlas

www.walker.co.uk

£6.99 UK ONLY

eBookavailable







CHALLENGE 5 – STORY ENDINGS

Hello all,

I hope you enjoyed thinking about the event that gets your story started, thrusting your character out of their normal life and into an adventure. I’m sure you’re itching to write what happens next, but first it would help to think a little more about the rest of your story, so you have a clearer guide to where the story is going.

Usually it is good to know how your story begins (which you now do) and how it might end. Once you know those two things, your story map will have two pins in it – the start and the end, and then you can have fun taking your characters from one to the other.

So, for the next challenge, try to write a few sentences about how your story ends.

The most important thing about a story ending is that your main character should have been CHANGED by the adventure they have been on. In fact, I would say that that IS YOUR STORY. When I met my publisher to talk about Jake Atlas, they asked me what it was about. At first I told them all about lost tombs and the cool action and twists. They listened, and then asked me, “But what is it REALLY ABOUT?” I thought for a moment and then replied, “It’s about a boy who learns to be proud of himself.” And that sums up Jake Atlas for me far better than anything else.

All the fun stuff action and adventure is just PLOT – it is the things that happen. STORY is about characters going on a journey that changes them. So that journey – from good to bad, or happy to sad – must always be in your head when you write the story.

So, for this challenge, could you also write one or two sentences how your main character changes in your story? This should be a change in your character’s personality – not in the action. Do they go from being nice to mean, or good to evil maybe?





TIPS FOR CHALLENGE No. 5...

Usually the hero is the person who changes the most in a story – from good to bad, or from mean to kind, or whatever. A good example is The Wizard of Oz – Dorothy seems to be the main character in that story, but in fact she doesn’t change at all. The others – the lion, tin man and scarecrow – all learn a lot about themselves on their journey, so I would say they are the main characters.

Also – don’t think about sequels! Tell the story you want to tell as if it is the ONLY story. As an example: If your hero is a tough but lonely detective trying to catch a criminal, by the end that character should have caught the criminal and become less lonely. THAT is the ending. Then, if you want, you can reveal that the criminal he caught is just one of many from a huge gang, so we know there will be more adventures to come.

Good luck!

Rob








by an evil cult.


E

#JakeAtlas

www.walker.co.uk

£6.99 UK ONLY

eBookavailable







CHALLENGE 6 – SCENE SETTING

Hello all,

So… by now, you have learned all the fundamental aspects of a story – characters, story starts and story endings. So now you can start actually writing something!

So how about you all pick a location from the story you’ve been thinking about – a particular place where a scene might take place – and describe it as if you were writing the actual book.

There are no rules here: anything goes. It could be a very simple place or a totally crazy one. Try to use all your senses when you describe it. Don’t just write what you see, but maybe what you smell or hear in this place, too. That said, don’t overdo the description. The best descriptions pick one or two memorable detail to set a scene and then get on with the character’s story.

Maybe also think a little about how your character responds to the place. So rather than just saying it smells, perhaps describe how that smell offends him or her, or how it delights the character, or reminds them of something from their past. That way you’re always focusing on the most important thing in any place at any time: the character.

Everything comes back to your main character, and everything in your story should revolve around that person. Always keep that character right at the front of your mind when you’re writing. If the character ever disappears from your thoughts then stop writing and bring them back into the story as fast as you can.










by an evil cult.


E

#JakeAtlas

www.walker.co.uk

£6.99 UK ONLY

eBookavailable








This is your six and final story challenge – once you have done this, you’ll be all set to begin writing your story. You now know what makes a good character, how stories begin and how they end, how characters change in stories and how to describe places where the story happens. You have a story map to show you the way whenever you get lost.

Of course there are loads of things we haven’t mentioned, such as dialogue (what the characters say) or descriptive writing (making it nice to read), but I believe you know have a really good understanding of what makes a good story, and how to write one.

So get busy writing it – and I can’t wait to read them.

Have fun and good luck everyone!

Rob

Here are some books Rob wrote using these story tips. His ‘Wild Boy’ novels are perfect for anyone studying the Victorian times, while the ‘Jake Atlas’ adventures are ideal for topics on the ancient world. They’re also great stories. Find out more at: www.roblloydjones.com







by an evil cult.


E

#JakeAtlas

www.walker.co.uk

£6.99 UK ONLY

eBookavailable







rob lloyd jones’s six story challenges...rob lloyd jones is the award winning children’s author...

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