Since Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey stories, people have been captivated by the adventures of others by living as the characters, through the wonder of the written word. Carefully crafted stories, with relatable characters and gripping plots, can transcend time and outlive the author by centuries. Writing takes practice, study, and learning how to develop a good story.

I have been writing creatively since elementary school when a substitute teacher, Mrs. Vickers, would read my poems and encourage me to have another, better poem ready for her when I next saw her. She challenged and encouraged me to hone my skills at that young age. While I consider myself fairly accomplished in writing verse, I’m equally comfortable writing stories and books.

An aspiring writer should first learn the basics of language: grammar, syntax, punctuation. From there, create an outline for a story using a single paragraph to summarize it. A character must get from here to there, but must face this or that obstacle. It’s the process of creating sentences and sequences; turning sentences into paragraphs and chapters, and arranging everything in a logical order. The story will often seem to write itself as the author simply writes from the heart and fills in the blanks.