Story Writing

Topic or questions that require writing story can include the following but is not limited to : 1. The day I will never forget. 2. My last holiday. 3. Had I know. 4. Two heads are better than one 5. An accident I survived. It is therefore important to know that events in narration are to be expressed in past, to this end, one must not use present tense verb.

Key parts of a narrative essay. 1. Title 2. Introduction 3. Body 4. Conclusion

1. Use a relevant title Your story title is the first thing that the examiner will see and read about your story. Start your story with a title that is relevant to the question and you’d be pleasing the examiner to scoring you high.

HOW TO WRITE A RELEVANT STORY TITLE. Remember the golden rule is to make your story title relevant to the question. But how can you do that? 1ST METHOD: convert the proverb or idiom in the question to your story title. Example: Write a story that illustrates the saying: It pays to be disciplined. IT PAYS TO BE DISCIPLINED

2ND METHOD: when a plain statement is made with no proverb or idiom, convert that statement to your story title. EXAMPLE (2): Write a story that ends with: “…and I have had to live with this stigma for the rest of my life.” TITLE: MY ETERNAL STIGMA TAKE NOTE: Write your story title in CAPITAL LETTERS. Do not underline. Position your title in the centre. No comma. No full stop

2. Introduce your story After writing your relevant story title, the next step is to write a captivating introduction to your story. A captivating introduction will make the examiner more interested in reading your full story and of course, awarding you your full mark.

HOW TO WRITE THE INTRODUCTION TO YOUR STORY 1ST METHOD — The Simple Intro: Use any of the popular story starters or just state the exact date that your story happened. Example 1: Once upon a time. Example 2: A long time ago. Example 3: It happened in the midnight of April 20th,

2ND METHOD — The Advanced Intro Explain a proverb that is related to the story or tell a little about one of the characters in your story. IT PAYS TO BE DISCIPLINED Man, by nature, is insatiable. The Oliver Twist in us will always want more, and when this desire meets indiscipline, the consequences can be detrimental.

However, if you are not too good in English, just start your story with any of the simple introductions. Both will get you the same mark as long as you punctuate appropriately.

3. ORGANIZING THE BODY Third step is the body of your story which will contain the full gist of the events that happened in your story. The Beginning — use this part to tell the examiner how the story started. When did your story happen? Where did your story happen? Who are the characters in your story? Which event(s) led to your story?

The climax — use this part to tell the examiner the most significant thing that happened in your story. “most shocking” “most exciting” “most interesting” “most horrifying” “most pleasant” .

After the climax, what happened next? Was there a reward? Was there a punishment? Who received the reward or punishment?

4. Conclude your story by stating the proverb, quote or expression in the question again. IT PAYS TO BE DISCIPLINED (Introduction) (Body) (Beginning) (Body) (Climax) (Body) (End) It was not until after that incident, I then realized that it pays to be disciplined.

Finally, Punctuate appropriately. Do not abbreviate. 1-2 paragraphs for your introduction 3-4 paragraphs for the body. 1 paragraph for your conclusion. Remove unnecessary words