Despite snow and freezing rain, author Alan St. Jean, of Columbus, Ohio, visited Holy Family School during Catholic Schools Week and shared with the students storytelling tips that can turn a predictable story into one with twists and turns.

St. Jean is the author of “Aidan of Oren” and “Chronicles of Oren” trilogies, and the picture books: “Big Fella,” “Spooky Mooky,” “Alyssa and the Spider,” “OinkADoodleMoo” and “OinkADoodleTwo.

His first love is music, so when he decided to write children’s books, St. Jean incorporated his musical skills into videos about his books. Then he uses these videos in his assemblies and classes with the students.

“It shows the children another way to tell a story,” he said.

St. Jean had planned to hold writing classes with the Holy Family School students in fourth- through eighth-grade and an Author Olympics, but then the Polar Vortex descended on the area. With one day left in the week, he maximized his time and gave two assemblies: one for the whole school and one for the fourth- to eighth-graders full of tips on storytelling.

“There’s no greater satisfaction than when I see the kids excited about writing,” he said. He strives to make writing fun and to inspire children to write and let their imaginations run.

“Writing is like going on an adventure, but you control it,” he said.

For his in-class instruction, St. Jean has them come up with a couple characters for the story. Then he has them develop a general plot by throwing out ideas. There’s really no wrong idea, just some that work better than others. He guides the students and helps them develop the plot, the problem the characters must handle, and the twists and turns. He asks the students what they think the reader would expect to happen next, which is really the writer’s cue to take a different direction. At the end, the class wraps it all up with a conclusion, and creates their illustrations.

“It’s a non-threatening approach to writing,” he said. “We all get that feeling of ‘it’s a good idea.’ It’s our idea. It’s a team approach.”

From there, St. Jean weaves the stories and pictures together for the Author Olympics. Due to the weather this year, Holy Family School students didn’t get to experience the whole program, but they did get several tips to help them keep their own stories fresh and unexpected.

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