Title

 The title should either summarize the whole story (without spoilers!) or
have something to do with the main theme.

Exposition
• This is the beginning of the story, where the characters and setting are
established. It serves as the introduction to the next part, the action, and the so-
called conflict of our story.
Action

 In this part, the characters deal with conflict and do things to solve
it.

Resolution
• This is where the conflict is resolved and the story concludes with an
ending, normally without any loose ends.
 PLANNING What?
Why?

MIDDLE= CLIMAX

How?

ENDING

Who?
What? BEGINING
Where?
Why? SET THE
SCENE
After outlining, make a list of vocabulary related to the topic, time expressions you can use etc…

Use unusual adjectives/adverbs to make the story interesting!!

 Title = 2-5 Words
With no spoilers but related to what you write,
You can do this at the end maybe
In the given sentence a person called Lou is on a plane flying over an island and he’s looking at the beaches. The plane is going lower so it might be getting
ready to land. This is the situation you have to start your story from and everything you write has to be related to this beginning.
The second question is a little bit more open than the first one because you can pretty much write about anything you like. The only restriction, again, is the
first sentence and the situation that comes with it. You can make your story funny, sad, full of action or fantasy and include whatever you can imagine, but
connect it to the first sentence
 Past continuous

Direct Speech
This brings the reader closer to the characters compared to indirect or reported speech.

Always try to make sure to set the scene. Give some background information (past continuous) to introduce the
main character(s). Add some adjectives and adverbs as well as direct speech because this makes the reader feel
more interested in your story and they want to keep reading.
When you start a story, if the first sentence isn’t given to you, you can use phrases like
these:

• It all began…
• When I first…
• At the beginning…
• It was a hot/cold summer/winter day.

Just to be clear, these are only some simple examples which you can use, as there
is no right or wrong way to start a story. That’s the beauty of it!
I tried to let the plot grow a little bit in my first main paragraph and, at the same time, create some excitement for the reader. Lou wants to go to the beach, but when I use
the word ‘however’ to start the second paragraph, it is clear that something must be wrong. Finally, I end my main paragraphs with a mysterious voice calling for Lou in the
bar. The reader wants to know how the story ends.
For useful language, you can find some time expressions (as soon as, when, five minutes later) as well as past perfect and past continuous (had seen, was changing, was
raining). These verb forms help us to give extra information around the main events of the story. In addition, there are interesting adjectives (clear, beautiful, surprised)
and adverbs (really, heavily). Once again, these words help us make our story more interesting for the reader.
It is also a good idea to use some contrast (however) and surprising elements (someone shouted) in your story because, again, you want to make the story as interesting as
possible.
 ENDING

Every good story has an ending. In PET, you want to finish your story in a surprising and/or funny way so the reader is happy.
Make sure that the ending is connected to the topic. Don’t introduce new characters or let the story move in a completely different direction. Just
write one or two last sentences and that’s it.

• In the end
• Finally
Again, these are just a few examples. There’s no right or
• When it was all over
wrong way to conclude a story, as long as it makes sense
• Eventually with the rest of the piece of writing.
• After everything that happened
• Luckily
PAST FORM VERBS

Past simple, past continuous and past perfect are the three most important verb forms when you
write a story.
• Past simple describes the main events of your story.
• Past continuous describes what was happening at the same time as the main events.
• Past perfect describes what happened before the main events.

Chapter 11
We will do more practice on these tenses ! These tenses are very Chapter 12
important for the story. Chapter 08

Chapter 09
Chapter 05
Chapter 09
Chapter 02
PAST SIMPLE
We use the past tense to talk about:
• something that happened once in the past:
I met my wife in 1983.
We went to Spain for our holidays.
They got home very late last night.

•something that happened several times in the past:

When I was a boy, I walked a mile to school every day.
We swam a lot while we were on holiday.
They always enjoyed visiting their friends.

•something that was true for some time in the past:

I lived abroad for ten years.
He enjoyed being a student.
She played a lot of tennis when she was younger.

•we often use expressions with ago with the past simple:
I met my wife a long time ago.
Chapter 02 PAST CONTINOUS
We use the past continuous to talk about the past:

* For something which happened before and after another action:

The children were doing their homework when I got home.
Compare: The children did their homework when (= after) I got home.
This use of the past continuous is very common at the beginning of a story:
The other day I was waiting for a bus when …
Last week, as I was driving to work, …

* For something that happened before and after a specific time:

It was eight o'clock. I was writing a letter.
Compare: At eight o'clock I wrote (= started writing) some letters.

* To show that something continued for some time:

My head was aching.
Everyone was shouting.

* For something that happened again and again:

I was practising every day, three times a day.
They were meeting secretly after school.
* with verbs which show change or growth:
The children were growing up quickly.
Her English was improving.
Chapter 09 PAST PERFECT

* for something that started in the past and continued up to a given time in the past:
When George died, he and Anne had been married for nearly fifty years.
She didn't want to move. She had lived in Liverpool all her life.

* for something that happened several times before a point in the past and continued after that point:
He was a wonderful guitarist. He had been playing ever since he was a teenager.
He had written three books and he was working on another one.

•* When we are reporting our experience up to a point in the past:

My eighteenth birthday was the worst day I had ever had.
I was pleased to meet George. I hadn’t met him before, even though I had met his wife several times.

* for something that happened in the past and is important at a later time in the past:
I couldn't get into the house. I had lost my keys.
Teresa wasn't at home. She had gone shopping.

* We often use expressions with for and since with the past perfect:
I was sorry when the factory closed. I had worked there for ten years.
I had been watching that programme every week since it started, but I missed the last episode.
If you take a look at the example of Writing Part 3 above, you’ll see how I used
these tenses in combination, when possible:

• Past simple and continuous:

It was midnight and I was trying to sleep.

• Past perfect and simple:

I had completely forgotten it was my birthday.

• Past simple:
This time I picked up the phone quickly and shouted, “Hello?!”.

So that’s how you should try to tell your story. Please avoid a simple succession
of past simple tenses alone, like:

I woke up and got out of bed. Then I went to the kitchen and made some
coffee.
It’s not wrong, but it’s just not good enough for a story.
MY ADVICE IS TO WRITE THE STORY IN THE PAST UNLESS THE INSTRUCTION OBLIGATES YOU TO USE
THE FUTURE. THIS WAY THE GRAMMAR STRUCTURES ARE SIMPLE AND IT IS EASIER TO WRITE, YOU
ONLY NEED A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF 3 GRAMMAR STRUCTURES:
•Past simple
•Past continuous
•Past perfect
For a better grade include WISH + PAST PERFECT or 3RD CONDITIONAL
 TIME EXPRESSIONS
•Firstly, secondly, thirdly
• when •in due time • Then
•as long as
• as soon as • Not long afterwards
•just in time
• Meanwhile
• immediately •at the moment
•in good time • As
• before •in the meantime • Sometime later
• earlier •in a moment • A little later
•in ages • a moment later
• until
•whenever • Later(that
• while •now that morning/afternoon/day/ni
• after that •instantly ght…)
•without delay • Just then
• next (day/morning etc.) •Suddenly
• x minutes/days/years later •all of a sudden
•at the present time Examiners look for these!
•from time to time Even one or two in the story
It is essential to use these expressions properly.
•sooner or later is enough….
Otherwise, it won’t be clear exactly how the story
develops. •at the same time
CREATING SUSPENSE

• Suddenly
• All of a sudden When writing a story, the aim is not to inform or to
• Without warning convey information; the real purpose is to entertain
• Just at that moment the reader, just like when you read a novel you
• Unexpectedly expect to be entertained. For this reason, a story,
• Out of the blue even a story for Preliminary (PET) Writing Part 3 should
• Out of nowhere aim to do so: entertain. And a cool way to entertain
• Right away is to create suspense, which we can do by using
• Straight away some of the following expressions:
ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS =
SPICES But don’t overuse!!

As the plane flew lower, Lou saw the golden beaches of the island below. The
sun was shining brightly and he said to the woman next to him, “I’m
so excited about my holidays!”

As soon as Lou got off the plane he left the airport and took a taxi to the city
centre because he really wanted to swim in the clear water and sunbathe
on the beautiful beach he had seen earlier.

However, when he arrived at the beach he saw that the weather was
changing and five minutes later it was raining heavily. Lou ran into a bar and
was surprised because someone shouted, “Hi, it’s you again!”

There was the woman from the plane! They started to talk and became
very good friends.
 DIRECT SPEECH

• …he said to the woman next to him, “I’m so excited about my holidays!”
• …someone shouted, “Hi, it’s you again!”

In every story there are characters and they usually interact

with each other, so it is always good if you know how to use • “I’m coming with you,” she said.
direct speech, that is, reproduce the words the characters • She said, “I’m coming with you.”
actually say or think. The tricky bit about this is • “Do you like it?” he asked.
the punctuation and the verbs to choose, because • “Don’t do it!” he screamed.
it’s good to use some verbs other than «say».

Pay close attention at where the comma (,) or other punctuation

marks go (?, !). Also, don’t forget to use inverted commas («…») to
enclose the direct speech. In British English we normally use single
inverted commas (‘…’), but it’s not important so choose the one
that suits you best.