Story is fundamental to our lives: we tell stories all the time. About ourselves, each other, someone we don’t know, someone we make up. When we describe a book we’ve read or a film we’ve watched, we’re telling a story. In telling stories we are able to be wherever and whoever we wish. Imagination and the ability to narrate are vital aspects of being both human and free.

The One Thousand and One Arabian Nights is a weaving of hundreds of stories that Shahrazad told to her bloodthirsty husband King Shahryar every night. By keeping him hanging on the edge of his seat with suspense, he postponed his usual practice of eliminating his bride the morning after their wedding night just so he could hear the rest of the tale. Here’s the first line of her first story: “There was once an old fisherman who had a wife and three children, who cast his net into the sea every day four times, and no more.” Finish the story in your fashion, but do it quickly, as though your life depended on it.

Write a short story that is twelve sentences. Makes sure you have a beginning, middle, and end.

A story map is a picture of a story. Draw your sequence of events in five bubbles: beginning, beginning-middle, middle, middle-end, end. Think of set-up, climax, conclusion. Surround your story bubbles with smaller ones that depict your characters’ actions and reactions to the events. This is a great tool to help you organize your story. You can also do this using index cards. Use one color for events and a different color for your characters. This allows more flexibility in your play with all the possibilities.