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how to write a story.
Laura shared these tips:
Get involved
By Bethan Lidgey and Jessica Powell
Laura Kemp is a brilliant
journalist turned author
from Penarth. She has
had 4 books published!
She lives with her
husband, son, Pillow the
ancient cat and Ollie the
dog who is lush! She has
15 years of journalistic
experience
and
has
written several successful
books. Writing is Laura’s
escape and love, like it is
for many of us here at
Chatter. She visited us on
the 18th of October in
Chatter to share some
insight into life as a
writer and to inspire us
with our writing. We
interviewed her and this
is what we found out.
Laura went to an
all-girls school where her
favourite subject was
English literature. Arriving
at university Laura had
never spoken in front of a
boy in classroom before
and
had
no
self
confidence. She graduated
and went on to work as a
journalist and widened
her writing abilities by
doing courses on things like
script writing. Laura was
made redundant not long
after having her baby and
went on to become an
author, writing 4 books so
far. Her most recent and
successful book
is ‘The Late
Blossoming of
Frankie Green’
which reached
number 1 in
Australia. She has had to
pitch ideas for stories to the
Sunday Mail. Even now, after
being
a
successfully
published author, Laura still
gets goose bumps when she
sees her books on sale in the
shops.
When
she
isn’t
writing her books she loves
to meet her friends, go
running and watch T.V. just
like any normal human
being. Hobbies are really
helpful when you get stuck
and have writers block
because they help you put
your ideas away and give
yourself brain space.
When Laura visited
she gave us lots of tips for
Offer to work as a
volunteer
on
writing
projects in your school
and community. This will
help you learn to work as
a team and as individual.
It will also give you an
understanding of the
whole process of writing
and publishing.
If you’re interested
in a career in writing
have you thought about
doing something related
to this as part of your
year 10 work experience?
Another brilliant
and simple way to get
involved in the world of
books is to become a
book blogger. Read and
review books then write
about them online.
Be original
As your original ideas
come to you over time
write them all down so
you don’t forget about
them. Start keeping a
story file.
Write a brief
Planning is so important.
Outline the basic plot
using a story arc with a
beginning, a middle and
an end.
The next step is to
think carefully about each
character. What music do
they listen to? How would
they react to certain
situations? What would
they order for dinner?
Basically build in the little
features which make
someone a real individual.