Saturday 18 August 2012

Story writing tips from Bernard Ashley and your chance to win one of 3 copies of Little Soldier...

 
As part of the Imperirial War Museum North's Free Summer Activities, they will be will be hosting a week-long programme of activities and events inspired by Bernard Ashley's children's book Little Soldier, which is one of the books that feature in the Once Upon A Wartime exhibition.




Today he was at IWMN and visitors of all ages were able to meet the author, find out what it is like to be a professional writer and what inspired him to write Little Soldier and new book, Dive Bombing.

 Little Soldier, published in 1999, follows Kaninda, a young boy who witnesses the shooting of his parents and sister by government troops in his own home in East Africa. After joining the rebel army of his own tribe, Kaninda is rescued by the Red Cross and sent to East London – where he is in danger of getting caught up in further violence.

If you were unable to make it, he has been kind enough to share some top tips on story writing below, these are great tips for any budding authors in your family...


Bernard Ashley: What I’ve found useful in writing...

1. Carrying a writers’ notebook – small, unobtrusive – for jotting down phrases heard, thoughts, people’s dress, etc. I suppose an i-phone could be used in the modern world.


2. Researching. Get on top of your subject, see it from more than one point of view. The internet is marvellous for this, but so is ‘going there’ as I did for ‘Little Soldier’ – seeing the colour of the soil, eating the food, avoiding the mosquitos. Look for the idiosynchratic detail that brings a scene to life, illustrating that life can be stranger than fiction.

3. Being aware of style – an action scene will be written with shorter sentences, fewer adjectives and adverbs, while a romantic scene can be lush in sentence and word. I imagine what sort of music would be playing beneath a particular scene in a film, and match it with words.



To inspire future authors further we have been offered 3 copies of Little Soldier to give away to My Mummy's Pennies readers!



Enter on the rafflecopter form below...


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Find more great giveaways at... ThePrizeFinder - UK Competitions

52 comments:

  1. At the moment their both into Jacqueline Wilson xx

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  2. Sounds lovely, yes pls lol!

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  3. Roald Dahl at the moment - I have all his books from when I was little and I have been reading them to my four each night! Currently I am reading James and the Giant Peach! They loved our previous book - The BFG!

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  4. So many favourites (both the kids and me have so many faves)...jacquline wilson, roald dahl, philip ardagh, jeremy strong,...the list goes on... x

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  5. it would probably be cathy cassidy...but there are many others x

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  6. they loved all the books. they dont have favourite at the moment.

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  7. Roald Dahl
    Good Luck everyone!!

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  8. Jacqueline wilson
    @jen1984j

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  9. Jacqueline Wilson

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  10. jacqueline wilson

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  11. Roald Dahl

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  12. Roald Dahl at the moment, He is currently reading Matilda and has got George and the Giant peach waiting.

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  13. My daughter loves Jacqueline Wilson and Sue Bentley (Magic Kitten books)

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  14. My daughter, like most of the others on here, loves Jacqueline Wilson

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  15. rachael jones mannWednesday, August 29, 2012

    my older boys love jk rowling

    my youngest hasnt got a fav yet but loevs al the mr men books lol

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  16. He doesn't have one yet, but he likes Jack Tickle's pop-up books.

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  17. Enid Blyton, I saved a lot of my books from when I was younger and even though my daughter is only 4 I read them to her most nights and she loves the stories in them.

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  18. Michael Grant and the Gone series

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  19. Morning, C.S Lewis, Aslam they love, fav book "Voyage of the Dawn Treader"

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  20. My LO loves David Walliams

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  21. Maria jane KnightFriday, August 31, 2012

    My little boy loves Rod Campbell-Dear Zoo is a huge favourite in our house!!!

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  22. Rebecca Jayne SmithFriday, August 31, 2012

    Enid Blyton :)

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  23. jacquline wilson,

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  24. Enid Blyton

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  25. My 3 always loved and still do, Arthur Conan Doyle (sherlock holmes)

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I love to read your comments, thank you for sharing your thoughts.