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Whether you're writing a story for school or just for fun, these handy hints should come in useful!
• Only have a few characters which the reader actually knows the name of.
• Having one central character is a good idea.
• Don't make the plot too complicated.
• Give your story suspense or an unlikely twist.
• Remember it's a short story; don't write loads of chapters (or even chapters at all!)
• Make sure the story fits into a specific genre - like horror, romance etc.
• Set the scene in the first few paragraphs.
• Organise your writing to focus on your main character, and an incident that happens with them.
• You should be able to read the whole story in not more than 2 hours.
• Write originally - think of a new, interesting storyline.
• Read a book of short stories to get the feel of them (but make sure you aren't copying them!)
• If you have time, give your story illustrations, for example, a beach style background would be good for a holiday story.
• Be prepared to re-write pages or paragraphs if they need improving.
• Make sure you have a dictionary or thesaurus to look up words or find better ones.
• When your story is complete, type it up for a neater effect (and you can double check spelling etc. then too!)
• Go back one last time through your story and check your grammar, spelling and punctuation.
  
  Got writer's block? Here are some ideas.
  
• Teenage summer romance - summer camp?
• A forest on a cold winter's night
• A teenager going to work in a vet's/zoo for work experience
• Someone being bullied
• A murder where the murderer turns out to be an animal
• A science fiction story about life on other planets.

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