1. Composition
Character
Setting
Problem
Resolution

2. Character
Name:
What does he/she look like: hair, eyes, ears, clothes, height, weight, age?
What kind of person is he/she? (friendly, mean, tough, loving, careless, silly, shy)
Habits: (smokes, talks with his mouth full, scratches head, always wears a hat)

3. Setting
The action can only take place in one or two places – any more that this and the story will be rubbish.

4. Problem
His favourite hat gets robbed.

5. Start
(Character) Liam was a tall boy from Blanchardstown in Dublin. He had short brown hair and light blue eyes. He was friendly to his friends and horrible to his family, especially his little brother. He smoked cigarettes and walked around wearing a baseball hat – the hat was what caused all the trouble.
(Problem) Liam was walking home from school smoking his head off and complaining about his English teacher. He turned the corner to go into his estate when suddenly he saw them – the Murphys. The Murphys were the toughest family in Blanch. Nobody messed with them. They surrounded him and said: “give us a smoke.”