1.

Setting the Scene: How to Start Your Story

Think about basic wh- questions: who, when, where, what?

Start your story with one sentence which gives some of this information.
For example:

 It was summer, and I went with some friends to a beach in

California which you could only get to by boat.
 I was travelling in Indonesia, and I decided to go hiking in the
mountains.
 At university, I shared a flat with three other guys/girls/people.

Next, add one or two more sentences to give more background details.

You need a balance here: you want to give enough background details to
make your story feel real, but you also need to get to the heart of your
story quickly. People will lose interest if you don’t get to the point.

Let’s see how you can do this. Look at our first example:

 It was summer, and I went with some friends to a beach in

California which you could only get to by boat.

Think: if you heard this, what questions could you ask to get more details?

You might ask things like:

 Who were your friends?

 Why did you go to this beach?
 What was the place like?
 Were there any other people there?

Answering these questions gives you details you can add after your
opening sentence. For example:

 People had been going there for years, and there were benches and
tables, places to camp, fire places and so on. It was kind of
a hippy place, with everyone walking around naked and doing
whatever they felt like.
Here, we’re focusing on one thing—the place—because it’s the most
interesting and unusual detail.

For a different story, you might focus on different details:

 At university, I shared a flat (apartment) with three other guys. We

were all good friends, but like lots of guys in that situation, we
played a lot of pranks on each other.

Growth and regulation manager

Management – administracion

We reviewed/discussed

We choose or chose (escoger o seleccionar)

In this story, the people are more important, so you would give more
details about them.

Okay: your turn! You need to start your story.

Make an opening sentence. Remember: who, when, where, what?

Then, add 1-2 sentences giving more background details. Focus on the
most important elements in your story.

2. Set a Goal In Your Story

What makes a story a story? A story needs two things.

One: there needs to be a goal. The person or people in the story should
want something.

Two: there needs to be tension. That means the goal can’t be too easy to
reach.

Let’s do an example together:

 It was summer, and I went with some friends to a beach in

California which you could only get to by boat. People had been
 going there for years, and there were benches and tables, places to
camp, fire places and so on. It was kind of a hippy place, with
everyone walking around naked and doing whatever they felt like.
On the last day, we had to catch a train in the evening.

 3. Adding Tension to Your Story

 Every story needs tension. What does that mean? It means that
your goal shouldn’t be too easy to reach.

 Here’s a story:

 There was a monster which liked to eat people. A hero killed

the monster. Everyone was safe. The end. At university, I
shared a flat with three other guys. We were all good friends,
but like lots of guys in that situation, we played a lot of pranks
on each other. One weekend, I was going home to visit my
parents. I said bye to my flatmates, and told them not to do
anything to my room. “Don’t worry, we won’t. Have a good
weekend,” they said. I knew they were going to do something,
but I couldn’t believe what they actually did…

4. How to Finish Your Story

To finish your story, you need to resolve the tension.

At this point, the people listening to your story should want to know
what comes next. You’ve created some tension. They aren’t sure
what’s going to happen, but they want to know.

So, finishing your story is simple: explain what happened in the end,
and whether you (or whoever) reached your goal or not.

 At university, I shared a flat with three other guys. We were all

good friends, but like lots of guys in that situation, we played a
lot of pranks on each other. One weekend, I was going home to
visit my parents. I said bye to my flatmates, and told them not
to do anything to my room. “Don’t worry, we won’t. Have a
good weekend,” they said. I knew they were going to do
something, but I couldn’t believe what they actually did: they
 made my room into a jungle! I’m not kidding: there were
flowers, plants, three whole trees, jungle animals made from
paper, and a ‘sounds of the forest’ mix playing on my stereo. It
took me three hours to clean up, and also I have hay fever—an
allergy to pollen—so I was sneezing and blowing my nose the
whole time. For my flatmates, that just made it funnier…

to tell a good story, you need to:

1. Set the scene and give some background information.

2. Establish a goal for the person or people in your story.
3. Add some tension, so that people aren’t sure what will happen
in the end.
4. Finish the story and add a retrospective comment.