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Writing a Story

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Let's tell a story. You have to engage your audience in a kind of hypnotic trance so that they are lost in the world which you have created. How is this done?

FIRST OF ALL let's choose subject matter in which many of the population are interested: CRIME and MONEY. All newspapers, whether tabloid or "heavyweight" are filled with these subjects every day. But let's not stray too far from a reality which you may have actually experienced AND let's not get too complicated with our techniques lest we lose the attention of some of our audience - a fatal flaw.

We'll tell our story chronologically (as it "happened", one event following another) with no flashbacks (or flash-forwards).

Our main character will be a young lad who is so down on his luck that he decides in the heat of the moment to commit a robbery. However, his plans go wrong and he kills someone.

What EPISODES are necessary for the telling of this tale? Just jot them down in any order, as they occur to you.

I would say we will need about 7 episodes:

• THE DECISION TO COMMIT A ROBBERY
• THE DISCOVERY OF THE MURDER
• A FRUSTRATING INCIDENT WHICH LEADS TO THE EVENTS
• THE CONSEQUENCES OF ALL THE EVENTS
• THE ACCIDENTAL KILLING
• THE FINAL MISTAKE
• THE ATTEMPT TO FLEE

What would be the simplest way to organise these episodes?

Go to NEXT when you have decided and see if your decision agrees with mine.

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