"This book is much like the author - warm, honest, open, encouraging. I loved it and want to buy a copy for every creative teenager I know." - Louise O'Neill

A guide for using creative writing to speak your own truth.
You are enough. You are interesting. Tell your story.

Celebrated writer Laura Dockrill knows that the best writing comes when you are speaking your own truth, with your own voice. Expressing yourself honestly is a powerful way to know yourself and grow to celebrate the exciting, creative, unique person you are.

When you are a teenager, everything feels different. How are you supposed to figure out who you are when it seems like teachers, parents, friends, the rest of the world, are all asking you to be something else? It can be overwhelming but the best way to steer yourself through this crazy, brilliant time is to hold on to your sense of you. Laura's stress-free invitations to creative writing encourage you to find your voice, celebrate it and use it.

This book is much like the author - warm, honest, open, encouraging. I loved it and want to buy a copy for every creative teenager I know. -- Louise O’Neill
You Are a Story is a joyful, charming and honest guide to creativity that welcomes young writers in. A brilliant mix of anecdotes, inspiration and guidance as well as practical suggestions and tasks. -- Anna James
Laura is a singular talent. I can't think of anyone finer to learn from, she's the business. -- Phil Earle
An original book about writing! I loved [the] emphasis on writing for yourself, that writing doesn't have to be about getting published, about how writing can benefit mental health. And so many great exercises. -- Francesca Simon
She offers 'a little lantern', with enthusiastic prompts and vivid examples - beautifully 'showing' rather than 'telling' how useful writing can be. -- Claire Hennessy * Irish Times *

Laura Dockrill (Author)
Laura Dockrill is a performance poet and novelist whose inventive and vibrant approach to life is reflected in the vividly imagined worlds she creates. She is author of the Carnegie Medal nominated YA novel Lorali, as well as Big Bones, and for younger readers, The Dream House and Butterfly Brain. Laura has appeared on Blue Peter and CBeebies and is a frequent poet performer at festivals such as Glastonbury, Hay, Edinburgh and Latitude. Laura lives in London with her husband and young son. You can follow her on Twitter @LauraDockrill

Lotte Cassidy (Illustrator)
Lotte is an illustrator and animator from London, currently studying for a masters at the Royal College of Art. She loves to explore the everyday, inspired by her surroundings, documenting people and their connection to a place. In her camera roll you will find people in puffer jackets, fish and chips, dogs with long legs, chimneys and hopscotch on the pavements.