Christopher Edge tells us about the inspiration behind his new book How to Write Your Best Story Ever!
A bank-robbing banana being chased by a police pigeon, an accident-prone spy with the nickname Double Oh No!, a crime-fighting baby who googles for clues… These are just a few of the fantastic ideas that children have come up with when I’ve visited schools to talk about writing stories.
As a writer of children’s fiction, one of the most common questions I get asked is ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ The answer is, of course, I go into schools and steal them. (Only joking!) But the creativity that children show when I work with them in writing workshops or chat to them after author events is truly an inspiration to me. When I was at school, I thought that books were made in factories and there weren’t any authors popping in to my classroom to reveal the secrets of the writing life. To me the idea of meeting a writer was as strange and exotic as the idea of meeting an astronaut. (Another childhood ambition, as yet sadly unfulfilled!) 
Nowadays children’s authors such as J.K. Rowling and David Walliams are celebrities and with literary festivals popping up every other minute, the power of stories can be seen everywhere. But sometimes in schools, the pressures of tests and exams can squeeze the pleasure out of reading and writing. So when I go into schools as an author, one of my goals is to help banish the fear of the blank page and put the fun back into writing stories. I want to demystify the creative process and help every child realise that they can be a writer too. From inventing unforgettable characters to creating thrilling plots, I share tips and trade secrets, working with children to write their own action-packed adventures, spooky tales and amazing mash-up stories. 
And so when Oxford University Press got in touch about creating a book called How to Write Your Best Story Ever! I jumped at the chance of getting involved. Working with the brilliant team there and with illustrations from the fabulous Nathan Reed, we’ve tried to create the ultimate creative writing guide. There’s an avalanche of ideas and advice about writing a story from start to finish and hints and tips about how to write different types of story too, from thrillers and mysteries to animal adventures and comic book scripts. There are ‘Word Webs’ to help children find the right words for their story and inspire their own creative vocabulary, ‘Author says’ tips to help conquer any bad cases of writer’s block, and even a ‘Red Alert’ feature that gives the lowdown on any essential spelling, grammar and punctuation help that the reader might need.
One of my favourite features in the book, is the ‘Inspiration Station’ where children can read fantastic lines from brilliant authors such as Roald Dahl, Philip Reeve and Jacqueline Wilson to name but a few and use these as fuel for their own writing. Every writer is a reader and every reader can be a writer too. All you need is a book…
Christopher Edge is the award-winning author of Twelve Minutes to Midnight, The Black Crow Conspiracy and many more books for children. A former English teacher, Christopher now works as a publishing and education consultant and visits primary and secondary schools across the country to inspire children as readers and writers. His books have been included in the Summer Reading Challenge, Bookbuzz and Read for My School programmes. How to Write Your Best Story Ever! is out now. Find out more about Christopher Edge at www.christopheredge.co.uk
