(Here’s an Audiovisual Lecture on Learn How To Write A Good Story In 6 Easy Steps: https://youtu.be/eUVkSZoGIh8)
Learning how to write a good story is an important and powerful skill. It’s undeniable that storytelling is a useful tool for education, orientation, entertainment, business, advertising, marketing and sales. Whether you’re giving an academic lecture, an evangelical talk, or a sales presentation, storytelling is a powerful strategy to grab the attention of your audience and win their interest. In education, for example, storytelling has been discovered to be one of the most effective forms of teaching. A good story enables the teacher and students to optimize the learning process. A well-told story makes the listener think and feel, and speaks to them more clearly and effectively than numbers, data, and presentation slides.
Generally, storytelling is the most effective communication strategy with which to engage your audience. Studies have shown that storytelling activates a function in the brain known as ‘neural coupling’ which helps the listener to effectively personalize the ideas expressed in the story and apply them in whatever they’re doing. You can use easily use stories to communicate authentically, inspire your audience and achieve positive results.
1. THE TITLE OF YOUR STORY
Choose only a topic you know and can discuss very well. Choosing a topic you know very well is the first step towards producing a good story. You must know what you are talking about, otherwise your essay will be big words without substance. You can hardly write a good essay on a topic you know little or nothing about. So you must choose the topic you know best: the topic you can discuss most easily. If you are already given a topic, as in WASSCE, NECO/SSCE and other senior certificate exams, you need to make sure you understand the wordings of the topic. You may be given a saying, a quote, or simply a group of words and you’re required to invent a story that illustrates the saying or ends with the given words. You have to first think about the given expression and make sure you fully understand what it means and the exact message your story is expected to convey.
2. THE PURPOSE/THEME
You need to identify the purpose of your story before you can write a good one. You can’t produce anything of value to mankind unless your product serves a definite purpose. To identify the purpose of your story, you have to have a clear message you want to convey to the audience. Think: what lesson should people learn from the story? If you’re asked to write a story that illustrates the saying: “Look before you leap.” Once you understand the meaning of this saying, you’ll understand the purpose of your story – to emphasize that someone ought to consider the possible results or dangers of something before doing it.
3. The Experience/the Story
Identify the experience you want to write about. Having decided on the purpose of your writing, the next thing is to invent a story. It is better to base the story on your personal experience – incidents you have witnessed, heard or read about.
4. The Prewriting Notes
Jot down the facts or main points of the experience you want to write about. Example:
Setting: the place and time of the event: where and when did it happen?
Characters: the persons involved, i.e. who were involved in the actions.
Plot: the events that took place and how they happened.
Conflict: the major problem confronting the main character in the story.
Theme: the results of the actions or events, i.e. how you feel about the incident and why.
5. WRITING THE STORY
When writing a story, you have to use the ideas generated at the prewriting stage. Make sure it is well-organized with an introduction, a body and a conclusion.
6. EDITING YOUR STORY
What makes a good story is not only the useful message it conveys but also the appropriateness and correctness of the language used in telling the story. This is why you must crosscheck the story and correct any errors in it. It’s at the editing stage you can also finetune whatever you feel needs to be finetuned, whether it is in reconstructing ambiguous sentences, correcting errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, or in any other areas.
For a more detailed audiovisual explanation of word stress, the factors that determine stress placement, and the various rules of stress in English words, watch the following video lectures: https://youtu.be/eUVkSZoGIh8
For other important topics in various aspects of English writing and speaking skills, check out these eBooks:
- Good Success in English: A Study Package or Good Success in English: A Study Package for Effective English Learning
- Good Success English Handbook
About the Author
Benjamin Abugu is a university graduate with a flair for content writing. He is an English teacher with over twelve years of experience, a published author of many books (both paperback and eBook editions), a blogger, and a Youtuber.
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