I’ve always loved to write. From the time I could physically write letters, I wrote stories. I kept notebooks with stories. And when I wasn’t writing stories down, I was making them up in my head- and often telling them out loud to myself. (I was practically an only child. Don’t judge me.)
Because story making came easy for me, I assumed, when I began teaching second graders before I had children of my own, that creative writing would come easy for all students. After all, everyone can make up a pretend story, right?
Wrong. Creative writing doesn’t come easily to all kids. And when faced with a blank page and a vague writing prompt- “Pretend you’re lost on a deserted island, and write a story about what happens.”- some kids stare at the blank page with terror on their faces. This isn’t just true for young kids. Even older kids often freeze when asked to come up with a creative story.
Some kids need a little instruction for how to come up with stories out of their own heads. There aren’t too many curricula choices for middle and high school that focus primarily on this creative writing process. So I was excited to find A Pirate’s Guide t’ th’ Grammar of Story. This is a unique curriculum that focuses on teaching creative writing to middle and high school students. It is primarily aimed at kids age twelve and up.

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What is A Pirate’s Guide t’ th’ Grammar of Story?
In short, it’s a unique creative writing curriculum. A Pirate’s Guide t’ th’ Grammar of Story was written by an author with years of experience in training screenwriters, graphic novelists and other professional writers. He has taken the process of creative writing and turned it into a workbook with an interesting story line for kids.
The workbook can be completed in a semester or used as a year-long course. It can be mostly used by students independently (although for the purpose of review I did it with my girls). The publishers say that it can count as a credit for a high school class. I used the book with my middle school aged girls. If my high schoolers were using it, I would probably use it in conjunction with other elements of literature and grammar to count as a high school language arts credit. I’m not sure I would count it as a complete course. This is, of course, according to my state regulations, so things may be different for other homeschoolers.
What do pirates have to do with creative writing?
That’s a good question. This workbook is unique because it doesn’t just give kids lots of information in a pedantic sort of way. Instead it presents a story. Throughout the story, lessons about the writing process are thrown in.
The basic premise of the story is that the reader has been kidnapped by Captain Yogger LeFossa, a pirate captain, and is on his ship with his monkey crew. Captain Yogger nicknames the reader Scurvy Spat and sets out to teach him the “grammar of story” in order to make him able to be a part of the crew.
Parts of the workbook are the story line, and these parts are written in italics. Other parts are the lessons that the reader is supposed to learn from Captain Yogger and his monkey crew.
Many sections of the workbook don’t have the student actually writing a story. Instead they are learning the parts of a story. Some workbook sections are called “Raise the anchor and set sail.” sections, and in these, the students actually use what they’re using to write. There are also “Heave Ho!” sections in which kids will do some more in depth thinking. And there are “Scratch your noggin’.” sections where kids remember and practice the story elements they’ve learned.
What is the “grammar of story?”
As Captain Yogger explains to the reader, the grammar of story has to do with the parts that make up a story. He explains that knowing all about what makes up a story is what will help the reader to really begin learning the art of stories.
In the table of contents, these elements of the story are broken down into twenty-six exercises. Each of these exercises focus on story elements.
- Mindstorming
- Being Specific
- Setting
- Values
- Significance
- Rules
- Symbols
- Backstory
- Connections
- Problems and the Act of Villainy
- Characterizations (in two exercises)
- Character values
- The Line Between Light and Dark
- Mystery
- Character Contradictions
- Character Desire
- Story Engine
- Character function
- Princesses and Villains
- Hero and Dispatch
- Donor and Magical Agent
- Helper and King
- Plot
- Gaps and Expectation
- Beginning, Middle, and End
- Transformation
- Character Arc
How does it work?
The book is written in such a way that students could pretty easily use it independently. Some of the exercises are shorter- only one or two pages- and some continue on for several pages.

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