Students at School Street Elementary School got a first-hand glimpse Wednesday into the process of writing from an award-winning author.

To prepare for a visit from Jacqueline Davies, students read her novel “The Lemonade War.” She then gave three assemblies, one each for third-, fourth- and fifth-graders.

Davies asked students to analyze with her the elements that make her book interesting. She asked them to help her point out the conflict, the characters’ goals and what about her book makes it relatable to readers.

The story centers on a sister and brother, Jessie and Evan. “They love each other. They get annoyed by each other,” she said, noting it’s that complex relationship that is “at the very heart of ‘The Lemonade War.’”

And that relationship between siblings is one of the things readers can understand, she said. “As writers, you and I, it’s useful” to think about what will help readers relate to the story, she explained. “I think that’s why ‘The Lemonade War’ is as popular as it is.”

One of four children growing up, Davies drew on her experience as both a younger and older sibling to write about the relationship between Evan and Jessie. Additionally, the idea for the book stemmed from watching her own children.

While some elements change when writers translate real life into stories, “What we keep the same is the emotional feeling,” she said.

When it came to her little brother, Davies remembers feeling like she could treat him however she wanted, but when other people were mean to him, she became protective. At the same time, she recalls looking up to her older sister and wanting very much for her sister to pay attention to her.

“I wanted her to notice me, and I wanted her to think I was good enough,” she said.

Davies now has three children of her own, two sons and a daughter. She got the idea for the book when her own sons opened competing lemonade stands, and the story developed from there.

Davies had a discussion with the students on the structure of a story, teaching them how her own story follows that structure.

As Davies explained, the book opens with Evan in the basement, already mad at his sister. Their problems continue to get bigger from that point.

When Evan opens a lemonade stand with his friend, Jessie wants to help. Evan says no, and now Jessie is mad, too, and starts her own lemonade stand.

Davies explained to the School Street students that the most important thing for writers to remember about the shape of the story is that beginning and end are short, while the largest part of it is the rising conflict.

“So, you want to write a story where you introduce the problem right off the bat,” she said. Once the story reaches the climax and the resolution, it is over.

Another story element she talked to the students about is what drives the characters’ action. What do they want?

“It’s part of the human condition,” said Davies. “We want things.”

At the surface, Jessie and Evan were fighting to earn the most money. But she also had a second motivation for each that had to do with their relationship.

To help the students think about the process of writing a book, she shared her own timeline for “The Lemonade War,” starting in April 2005. Once she had the idea, she spent about a month rolling it over in her mind when she walked her dog. Another month was spent jotting ideas in a notebook. She even showed a page from her idea notebook, where she wrote down notes notes such as character biographies and conflict points.

Then it took her 19 days to write the first draft.

She took that draft to her monthly writers group meeting, then spent two months revising before taking it to her editor. Once her editor let her know she was interested in the book, Davies spent two more months editing before coming up with the final draft.

“Revision is the most critical part of the process,” she said. It was two years later, in April 2007, before the book was published.

“The Lemonade War” was meant to be a standalone novel, but her readers kept asking what happened to $208 that went missing in the novel — never to be recovered. She would explain that the novel was not about the money, but rather about the relationship between Evan and Jessie.

Eventually, she told her editor she needed a sequel to address the missing money, which became “The Lemonade Crime.” This was followed by three other novels about Jessie and Evan: “The Bell Bandit,” “The Candy Smash” and “The Magic Trap.”

Davies lives in Massachusetts and has published 13 books to date.