If you are seeking writing tips online, who are the best people to help you to write a story yourself and get it published? There is only one answer to that question: those that were once like you and have succeeded in doing it! The professional writing instructors that you find online may or may not be successful themselves, but you can learn more from somebody that has gone through personally, and knows exactly how to do it, than anybody offering the latest theory.

It can be a hard struggle for budding young authors to get started, and not everybody has sound financial backing behind them. Knowing how to write a story and then how to get it published can make the difference between budding authors achieving the success their competence deserves, and failure through ignorance of ‘the system’ more than a lack of imagination and writing ability.

Steps in Writing a Story

There are certain steps to take when writing a story, whether you are writing a full length novel or a short story for publication in a magazine. To state it in very basic terms, you need a plot or theme for your story, and then spend time sketching out how that should develop and then end.

Decide on a theme, and then think of the beginning and end you want. You can then work on the story itself, which is fundamentally everything between the beginning and the end! For example, your theme could be a child finding his long-lost family.

Child is left an orphan when mother dies – orphan is looked after by social services and a locket left by the mother is found – child escapes and gets involved in crime – child saved from crime and identified by locket by mother’s sister and a benefactor. This would be a good theme for a novel if written during the appropriate period in history, and Victorian England would likely be that period. Is this story familiar? It should be – it was written by Charles Dickens using the theme of good against evil in a Victorian background. The title will be given during this article.

The point being made here is that you must have a theme for your story, and then a beginning and an end. In any story you read, whether it is Wuthering Heights or Stig of the Dump, there is a general theme, and the rest is just padding. You could précis many fabulous books is just one paragraph as above, and the rest is simply a knowledge of how to write that you can learn.

The Theme Overrides the Tale

One of the most important writing tips for budding writers today is that the theme overrides the actual tale, but if you can find a theme that people can relate to and a good story to go with it, then you can achieve success. Dickens’s novels became very successful in their own day: it is doubtful if Oliver Twist would have sold much if it was published today, but in Victorian England people were both enthralled by the story and dismayed by the theme.

These days readers want a theme that they can recognize and identify with. Jack London’s books or Uncle Tom’s Cabin would not have the same impact today as they had when they were published because times change, and you should first seek a theme for your story that relates to modern life or social circumstances, or that would be believable by modern readers. There is no point in knowing the mechanics of how to write a story if you cannot choose a theme or plot that relates to your potential readers.

Sure fairy tales will always be popular, but the stories have to brought into the 21st century so that youngsters can relate them. That is why the Harry Potter books became so popular, and also why ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ movies change with the times. It’s a story of good prevailing over bad, although it is now considered more P.C. for bad kids not to be killed off or simply disappear up an elevator!

Do It the Best You Can . . .

These writing tips are just the tip of the iceberg so to speak, and coming up with a believable plot in which today’s kids or adults will become truly engrossed is only the first step in a long road that will result in a story or novel that people will read and talk about.

If you have a desire to achieve something, then learn how to do it the best you can. If you fail to do your best to succeed in achieving your dream, you will always wonder: what if. . .

Do not let yourself be saying ‘what if’ for the rest of your life – search out the best writing tips and instruction on how to write a story so that you give yourself a chance to realize your dream, and if you fail – well, you will also know that you gave it your best shot, and you can’t do more than that. It can be done if you follow the right steps, and taking advice from people that have done it themselves is one of the best ways to learn how to write a story that sells: and also to learn how to get it published!

If you want to be published, it is important that you learn how to write properly. Check out Dawn and Kay’s book How to Write a Story in 10 Easy Steps for potential writers worldwide. Also check their website Write Stories for more advice on how to write your own work and get it published.