The only formula you need to become an excellent storyteller

I get asked this question a lot "How do you come up with story ideas to write about?

How do you turn almost anything into a story? I have a story idea but I don't know how to expand on it. etc. Well...

Come with me while I show you how it's done using the AW3LD formula. Let's dive!

A- Attention: 

Pay attention to your environment. Enough that you pick ideas from it.

The truth is - stories are everywhere.

The fact that I can make a story out of anything is because I pay attention to my environment and I see the ideas.

Now when you do this enough times- it comes to you naturally. So for now.. pay attention.

W- Write it down:

Yes, you got an idea you'd want to write about.

The next thing you wanna do is write it down, and the angle you'd want it to take.

The brain can be funny sometimes.

Don't go thinking you have it in your head and you can't lose it. Trust me, I have lost tons of ideas like this.

L- Listen to your mind: 

What makes a story unique is the teller. Listen to your mind to get its thoughts on the idea.

Your thought process. Your view. Your style, etc.

How I tell this story won't be the same as you do.

So give your mind that opportunity to explore and watch it create magic.

L- Lesson: 

Every good story has a lesson. Attach a lesson to your story, what you'd like your readers to take away from it.

Reason is. One story can have a lot of lessons, so you have to pick the one which suits your message the most and talk about it.

L.D- Little details: 

Now you have your idea, you have written it down,

you have given your mind access to analyze and come up with your unique way to tell the story, and you have picked a lesson.

How do you expand on this idea to make it worth reading?

By starting with little details.

You expand on these ideas by starting from little details that occurred before the main detail.

Those little things that cannot stand alone as a story.

This adds context to your story and makes it enjoyable.

Here's an instance of the whole AW3LD formula put together.

“Yesterday, I was at the student affairs office to submit a document.

Immediately I walked in, the women there noticed my nails and started asking me a bunch of questions about it…”

When I told this story (You’ll see it in my previous emails) I didn’t start from “walking into the office”.

I started with the little things that happened that led me to go to the office in the first place.

Like: my registration was delayed for X and Y reasons.

These things add context to your story, in a way that your story doesn’t end before it begins and your readers are hooked till the end.

Do you get the point?

If I hadn’t started with these little details, I would just have a story that is probably 50 words because there won’t be any details to make it worth reading.

And that’s it for the AW3LD formula.

Implement this and tell me how it worked for you.

Also, it takes time. So don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get it in the first few tries.

Your Queen.. Happiness.