The Mr Salles Guide to Awesome Story Writing

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So 500,000 English students a year are examined on how to write a short story. Well, this should be brilliant, because being able to write a short story is an art, a gift, a talent that will last long after the GCSE is replaced by who knows what. And do the exam boards give us examples of how to write them?

Well, I couldn't find any that my students could write in 45 minutes, and still get top marks. Seriously, not one. So, I wrote some. And then some more. It was more than fun, it was playful, and I felt a sense of joy. I was already an author, but now, I was becoming a proper writer.

And here they are, over 20 short stories which will teach you to become a writer. Oh, and yes, how to get the top grades in an exam. Then I asked my friend Lee, another teacher and a writer, if he could help me out, so you now have a collection of stories which are awesome. Some of them show you how to get a grade 5 or 6, because you aren't all ready for grade 7, 8 and 9.

But follow the tips in this book, and you will be. Because after every story, I show you 10-15 skills in the story. They'll train you to be a writer.

And it's OK if you don't want to be brilliant at writing stories, you just want to pass the exam. Because you can just remember a couple, and reproduce them in the exam. Yes, really. That's totally ok, and legal. And you'll find your brain changes them anyway as you write because that's what brains do.

So, if you feel the exam grind has drained all the creativity out of education - I've got the cure. Try it.