Five creative writing tips: By Tim Harris, Author of Toffle Towers: Order in the Court

Tim Harris is a former primary school teacher of 15 years, his stories are filled with quirky scenarios, loveable characters and plenty of imagination. Tim’s ‘humour with heart’ writing style has seen his books receive multiple awards, including two KOALA Honour Books (2017 and 2019) and a CBCA Notable (2018). His books have been published in Australia and the USA, and have been translated into numerous languages.

Tim is also the creator of PRIMARY WRITERS, a YouTube channel dedicated to helping teach young learners the craft of writing.

An advocate for creativity and short stories, Tim’s presentations and workshops are dynamic and entertaining. He is a sought-after presenter, having worked in hundreds of schools across Australia.

1. Give your main character/s a mission or goal. This will help drive the narrative – with a clear mission or goal, the characters will start to tell the story for you!

2. Jot down ideas as they come to you. Even if you don’t use an idea immediately, you can store it away and refer to it later on for fresh inspiration.

3. Let your characters talk to each other. Dialogue is a wonderful way to speed up a story and reveal important information to the reader.

4. Don’t forget the power of words. Simply by changing a word like ‘walk’ to ‘trudge’, you can tell the reader everything they need to know about a scene.

5. Edit. The best young writers I know are prepared to make changes to their work. Editing can make the difference between a good piece of work and a great piece of work.