Write Your First Story

Proof required

In 40+ words: describe who your story is about, what problem or adventure will happen, and how it will end. A drawing of your character with notes, a voice memo, or a short written paragraph are all fine — any form that shows you planned before you started.

What gets checked

• Plan identifies a character, an event or problem, and an ending — three things, all present, even if described simply
• The plan was made before writing began — a retrospective plan written after the story is finished does not count; the plan should show what was intended, not what was done
• Any format is acceptable (drawing + bullet points, spoken description recorded by a parent, short paragraph) — the content matters, not the format

Common mistakes

• Skipping the plan and going straight to writing — young writers who skip planning often write a strong beginning and then cannot think of how to continue; the plan prevents this, even if it is only three sentences
• Planning a story that is far too long to write in one sitting — a plan with 20 events will produce a frustrated child who gave up; help the child choose ONE event or adventure, not a saga
• Treating 'who it is about' as sufficient — the plan must include something that happens AND an ending, not just a character; 'it is about a cat' is not a story plan

Resources

What a verifier looks for

• This is a K12 elementary outcome (ages 4–10): the accepted verifiers are a parent or a teacher — no specialist credentials required
• The plan must show a character, an event, and an ending — a plan that only names a character without any story content does not pass; ask the child to add 'what happens' and 'how it ends' before approving milestone 1
• Any format is acceptable: a drawing with notes, a spoken description written down, or a short paragraph — the 40-word minimum covers the child's description of all three elements combined
• Milestone 1 is passed when the child can tell you what their story is about before they start writing — not after; if they are writing as they plan, that is milestone 2

Proof required

Submit: (1) a photo of all the pages of your finished handwritten story, or a link to a typed document, and (2) your reflection in 40+ words: what your story is about, what was the hardest part to write, and what you would change if you wrote it again.

What gets checked

• Story has a beginning, middle, and end — even simply: 'One day... then... in the end...' is sufficient; a story that stops in the middle without a resolution does not pass
• Story is at least one page in length — at K-5 standard, one page of a young writer's handwriting (which may be large) is sufficient; a single sentence is not
• Reflection addresses all three questions: what it is about, what was hardest, what would be changed — answers can be short but all three must be present

Common mistakes

• Starting again from scratch because the first draft was not 'good enough' — first drafts at K-5 level do not need to be good; they need to be finished; perfectionism at this stage stops more stories than it improves
• Writing a story that has a beginning and middle but no ending — the most common failure mode for young writers; if a child is stuck on the ending, the parent or teacher should ask 'how does it all turn out?' and write down what the child says aloud
• Taking photos of only the first page — all pages must be submitted so the verifier can confirm the story has a complete arc; a single-page photo with only the opening of a multi-page story does not pass

Resources

What a verifier looks for

• This is a K12 elementary outcome: the verifier should confirm the story has three parts — something happens at the start, something happens in the middle, and there is a resolution or ending; the verifier does not need to assess literary quality
• All pages must be submitted — open the photo(s) or document and confirm you can see the whole story from start to finish, not just the first page
• The reflection must address all three questions: what the story is about, what was hardest to write, and what they would change; if the child answered only one or two questions, ask them the missing ones verbally and add the answers to the reflection before approving
• A story submitted as a photo must show handwriting that is legible enough to confirm there are words on the page — ask the child to read it aloud if the handwriting is difficult to decipher; the read-aloud confirms the words are real

Proof required

Submit: (1) a photo of you reading aloud to at least one person outside your immediate household (a classmate, a neighbour, a grandparent, or a teacher), OR a public URL where your story can be found and read without login; and (2) one sentence recording what that person said their favourite part was.

What gets checked

• The reader or listener is someone outside the immediate household — a photo of only the child's parents listening does not pass; a classmate, neighbour, grandparent, or teacher satisfies the requirement
• One response from the audience is recorded — even a single sentence ('they said they liked the dragon') satisfies this; the reflection must record what someone said, not just that someone heard it
• If the story is published online, the URL must open publicly without requiring login — a Book Creator share link or class blog post set to public satisfies this; a private document shared only with the verifier does not

Common mistakes

• Reading to a parent who also verified milestones 1 and 2 — involving the same person in every milestone reduces the social proof element; at least one audience member at milestone 3 should be a new person outside the household
• Publishing online but not asking for any response — the 'favourite part' question is required; a published URL with no audience engagement does not satisfy this milestone
• Reading the story but providing no evidence — a photo of the reading or a screenshot of the published post is needed; a self-report without any supporting evidence does not pass

Resources

What a verifier looks for

• The audience member must be someone outside the immediate household — a photo showing only the child's parents is not sufficient; confirm from the photo or the child's description that a classmate, neighbour, grandparent, or teacher was present
• This is a K12 elementary outcome: the verifier does not need to assess the story's literary quality — confirm that (1) someone outside the household heard or read it, and (2) the child recorded at least one thing that person said about it
• If the story was published online: open the URL in a private browser window to confirm it is genuinely public — a URL that requires login does not pass
• Ask the child: 'what did the person say was their favourite part?' If the child cannot answer, ask them to go back and ask the audience member before this milestone is approved