Bit of a spin-off from the journalism thread earlier this...

One of the reasons I bailed out on a journalism career is that I'm more interested in writing as an expressive art form rather than writing-as-reportage.

I'm about to start my NQT year as an English teacher now, but I'm hoping to continue writing bits for DiS or wherever else will have me. Eventually though I'd love to have a go at writing fiction - just a short story maybe. I've tried in the past and whilst I'm happy with my writing stylistically, I feel pretty unsure whether I could dream up believable characters and send them out on their way with actual motivations and a compelling narrative arc etc etc

So is anyone well-versed in writing fiction? Any tips or links or anything appreciated