Anthony Horowitz Spy Story Masterclass
Bestselling mystery author Anthony Horowitz has a top secret mission for you! To write your own amazing spy adventure story in just one week. Every day, we'll be uploading some incredible top tips on how to write a brilliant story, so why not write along with us and create something amazing!
Masterclass one - creating a main character
The first thing to do when writing a story is to create your main character, the person who you will follow through the story. Watch the video for Anthony's top tips on making up your own fantastic hero or heroine!
Download the 'creating a main character' worksheet you can complete at home, if you would like to!
Mini-mission:
Comment below with a line or two about the main character you have come up with, using Anthony's tips! He'll be reading and reviewing a selection out at the end of the week.
Masterclass two - creating an evil villain
So you've got your spy story character all sorted. What's next? A villain, of course! Your villain will be trying to hatch his or her wicked plan, but before you can start writing the story, you should put some thought into creating your very own bad guy. Lucky for you, Anthony Horowitz has all the top tips in how to bring a villain character to life.
Download a helpful worksheet on villain-creation to keep track of your ideas!
Mini-mission:
Comment below with your evil character creations, tell us all about them and their evil plans! Mwahahaha!
Masterclass three - secrets of a good setting
You've created some amazing characters, now it is time to create a world for them to live in! Setting is really important to make your story feel realistic and to allow a reader to imagine themselves in the story. It's super fun AND Anthony is here with his top tips on writing about setting.
You can download a worksheet to help your keep track of your setting!
Mini-mission
Write a description of you setting in the comments below!
Masterclass four - planning an epic plot
Characters? Check. Setting? Check. Now comes one of the best parts - planning the story! Anthony is here with his top tips on planning your story's narrative.
You can download a worksheet to help keep track of your progress.
Mini-mission:
Write the entire plot of your story in just one line! (i.e. Lindsey tries to find out who stole the cookie from the cookie jar and uncovers an underground gang of biscuit thieves.)
Masterclass five - adding dramatic dialogue
You've got characters, a setting and you know your plot. Time to add in some dramatic details that will enhance you story! In this masterclass, Anthony will teach you all about using dialogue and speech in your writing.
Mini-mission
Write a short scene (no more than a few lines) from your story with some dramatic dialogue in!
Masterclass six - finding inspiration
You should have everything you need to write your incredible spy story. But how do you keep coming up with new ideas? Anthony has some top tips to keep you feeling inspired when story writing!
Mini-mission
Share your top tips for feeling inspired in the comments below!
Anthony Horowitz answers your questions
Comment below with your questions for Anthony Horowitz! Perhaps you want to know more about writing stories? Perhaps you have question about his Alex Rider books? Get your questions in by Monday and he'll answer a selection of them via video!
Anthony Horowitz reads your spy story submissions
We're asking you to leave comments below in response to the mini tasks Anthony has set for you. He'll be reading and reviewing them at the end of the week, so make sure you get involved and he might read out your ideas!