Story Writing Hints
By
Gerald D. O’Nan
Author of the
Adventures of Andy Ant Books
(Note: I will try to give you hints and ideas about writing stories using the 8 books in The Adventures of Andy Ant as examples. Having a set of the Andy Ant books available will help you understand the context better, but it isn’t necessary if you have a good imagination.)
The Story Behind the Story – Runaway Ants
This story introduces a new and important character in the Adventures of Andy Ant series. His name is Dickter and he is Andy’s best friend at school. Dickter’s character is based on one of my very best friends in elementary school.
My friend was one of the nicest kids you could ever hope to meet, and remember he was just a kid. He had the biggest smile I have ever seen and would do anything he could to help you. He was a great athlete and could run faster than anyone in the sixth grade. His family had moved to our school area that year from across town. My friend also had a speech impediment… it wasn’t bad, but it was noticeable.
One day just before summer vacation our school had a track meet against another school in town. It happened to be the school where my friend had attended the previous year. As usual, my pal ran like the wind and, as I recall, came in first in every race. He wanted the kids in his current school to meet his friends from his old school. To my surprise, the other kids in my class made fun of him – especially the way he talked – as he was trying to introduce us to the kids in his old class. I didn’t say anything about him, BUT I didn’t stick up for him either. Clearly, I didn’t act like the kind of friend he deserved.
When the school year ended I never saw my good buddy again. I don’t know if his family moved or if he went to a different school. But it was a school year I will never forget and it taught me some lessons that I stayed with me to this day.
Runaway Ants was one of the most important stories I have written and probably the most important book in the Andy Ant series. I mention the details about my good friend, many of which are carried over to the Runaway Ants story because they are forever embedded in my mind. In this regard, you can often get story ideas from painful memories and let them become, as Webster defines it, “a purification that brings about spiritual renewal or release from tension.”
Copyright © 2023 by Gerald D. O’Nan All Rights Reserved. No part of this document may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system without the expressed written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
