Want to write an interesting story, but don’t know how to do it?
Looking into your own life can give you a head start on a story. Using your own experiences can help you quickly create a story line that is entertaining and can be used to create a written story, an animated story, a video story or a comic book story. You could even use it to write a story for a video game!
In this activity, you will be thinking about things in your own life to write a story.
STEPS:
1. Start by watching the Pixar in a Box video on the Khan Academy site: We Are All Storytellers.
· Think about things in your own life that could be in a story. Think about your family, your friends and other people you know, talk with, or just see. For example, you might have a crazy aunt who wears a Chicago Cubs baseball batting helmet everywhere she goes, even to church and your school plays. There’s probably a story in there.
2. Ask some “what if” questions.
· What if your crazy aunt lost her beloved batting helmet? What if it was stolen by a crazier person? What if the helmet was magic?
3. Use the Hero’s Journey structure to start building your story.
· What is the Hero’s Journey? It is a simple structure that you can use to develop a story line. Here is a super simple version of the Hero’s Journey you can use:
There is a hero…
· Write down an idea for a hero, or your main character.
· This can be anyone, like your crazy aunt with the Cubs batting helmet.
Who wants something…
· What is it your hero wants? It may be to find something, to get something or someone, to win something, to do something, and so on.
· For example, your crazy aunt wants her batting helmet back; she thinks it gives her powers when she’s wearing it.
Who goes into action to get what they want, but…
· What does the hero do to get what is wanted?
· Your crazy aunt enlists you to use your drone to spy on the neighbor she thinks took her helmet.
Runs into conflict (trouble!)…
· Something happens to keep the hero from getting what is wanted.
· The drone crashes in the neighbor’s yard and you and your crazy aunt have to figure out how to get the drone back.
Something big happens (the climax!)…
· Something happens to the hero.
· Your crazy aunt gathers her courage (which she’s always needed her batting helmet to feel), and you both go over and knock on the neighbor’s door.
And the problem is resolved.
· The hero gets what they want.
· The neighbor turns out to be nice, takes you and your aunt into his backyard to get the drone. And surprise! Your aunt’s Cubbies batting helmet is there, too. It appears the dog took it off her porch and brought it back to his doghouse. She gets her helmet back!
4. Write a story using the idea from your own personal life and the details you came up with from the Hero’s Journey step.
· Even if you use ideas from your own life, it doesn’t have to be a true story!
TIPS & RESOURCES:
This lesson uses the first video in the Pixar in a Box course on the Khan Academy webpage, but there is a lot more to help you become a good storyteller. It’s available free at this link: https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/pixar
The original Hero’s Journey is much longer with more steps. If you are interested in learning more about it and how it has been applied in popular movies, check out this video:
By Laurie Ralston