Kate Messner: Hi there. I'm Kate Messner, the author of How To Write A Story. This book is a followup to a book called How To Read A Story, written by me and illustrated by Mark Siegel, and that book is all about the joy of the reading process. But when that book came out and teachers and librarians and readers loved it so much, we talked about doing something to celebrate the joy of writing, too, because we'd had so much fun making How To Read A Story, and that's where the idea for How To Write A Story came from. It's a book that explores the writing process.

And I want to read just a little bit of that to you today.

How To Write A Story, by Kate Messner. Illustrated by Mark Siegel. Step 1. Search for an idea -- a shiny one. You can write about something you love -- maybe space, horses, or airplanes. Or something that scares you -- sea monsters, giant spiders. You might write about something you know really well, like playing soccer or dogs, or research a topic you'd like to learn more about. Don't worry if not all your ideas are shiny. Sometimes you have to collect a lot to figure out what works best. Step 2. Once you have your idea, choose a setting. Only you can decide when and where your story will take place. A soccer field, an art museum, outer space, the aquarium? Step 3. Choose a main character. That's the person who grows and changes the most as the story unfolds. You can brainstorm and draw your main character if you want. Try to learn all about them before you start writing.

So as you can see, this book walks readers through all the steps that we use when we make books, all those steps in the writing process, so that they can dream up some stories of their own.