Year 4 English · Writing stories · Lesson 11.1

Year 4 English Writing stories: Planning a story: setting, characters and plot

Part of the Year 4 English writing stories chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page

11.1

Planning a story: setting, characters and plot

Year 4
Plan a narrative by discussing similar writing and recording ideas (WC1), Create settings, characters and plot in a narrative (WC4)

Story. Noor and her grandad are walking up Larch Hill. Before she writes her story, Noor makes a plan, so that every part has a clear place.

A story plan helps a writer decide what will happen before they write the full story. A strong plan includes a setting (where and when the story takes place), characters (who is in the story and what they are like) and a plot (the events, in order). The plot has five parts: an opening, a build-up that raises the tension, a problem, a resolution that solves the problem, and an ending.

Read the plan in the box, and look at the diagram of the plot. Then answer the questions in exercise 11A.

The five parts of a plot, from the opening to the ending

Plan: The Compass on Larch Hill

Setting: a village at the edge of a pine forest, early on a misty autumn morning. The path climbs to a hilltop viewpoint.
Characters: Noor, aged ten, who loves maps; her grandad, who has walked the hill for years and carries a brass compass.
Opening: Noor and Grandad set off up the path, and Noor checks the map.
Build-up: the path forks, a mist rolls in and the signpost is hidden, and a bird calls somewhere in the trees.
Problem: the path disappears in the fog, and the compass needle spins.
Resolution: Noor remembers the stream they crossed and follows the sound of the water downhill.
Ending: they reach the car park, and Grandad says the map was never the only way home.

Key ideas

The setting tells the reader where and when the story happens.
Characters should be real enough that the reader cares what happens to them.
The plot is the sequence of events, and it has five parts: opening, build-up, problem, resolution and ending.
A good problem gives the story its main challenge.

Worked example 11.1.1

In the plan, which plot part comes straight after the build-up?

Method. Read the plot parts in their order.

Find the build-up. Build-up is the second plot part, after the opening.
Build-up
Read the next part. The part that comes next is the problem.
Problem
Check the order. The five parts run: opening, build-up, problem, resolution, ending.
Opening, Build-up, Problem, Resolution, Ending
Write the answer.
Problem

Check. Problem is the part after build-up. ✓

Worked example 11.1.2

Write a setting, with a place and a time, for a story about a lost puppy.

Method. A setting names where and when the story happens.

Choose a place. A park is a place where a puppy could get lost.
the park by the station
Choose a time. A windy Saturday morning gives the reader a time to picture.
a windy Saturday morning
Join them in one sentence. A setting joins the place and the time in one sentence.
On a windy Saturday morning, in the park by the station
Write the answer.
On a windy Saturday morning, in the park by the station

Check. The sentence names a place and a time. ✓

Worked example 11.1.3

Noor loves maps. How could this character detail help the plot?

Method. A character detail helps the plot when it is used to solve the problem.

Find the detail. The plan says Noor loves maps.
loves maps
Link it to the problem. The problem is that the path disappears in the fog.
the path disappears
Connect them. A reader who knows Noor loves maps expects her to use one to find the way.
use a map to find the way
Write the answer.
She can read the map when the path disappears in the fog.

Check. The detail and the problem connect. ✓

Watch out

Watch out: a plan is a set of notes, not the story. Use the plan to make choices, then write the story in full sentences.

Exam tip

Grown-up tip. Ask your child to tell you a favourite film or book in five parts, and to name each part. Then ask them to plan one story of their own with a setting, one character and a problem, before they start to write.