Writing Tutorial: 3 Tips to Start Writing with Jorge Gonzalvo

Good stories come from talent, experience and inspiration. Jorge Gonzalvo (@gonzalvo) is a writer, teacher of writing and cultural manager. His passion for teaching how to write stories has led him to complete his profile with teaching and, consequently, to make this tutorial for you.

In this tutorial he is going to talk about the premises, the importance of knowing the topic you are going to talk about in your story and the imposing first sentence. Take note of these tips, they will be very useful.

1. What would happen if...

This is a very funny tool to generate stories. He tells how movie and series scriptwriters play with "what if..." constantly throughout the story they are telling. Jorge explains that all stories could be reduced to a "what if". And he clarifies it for us with some examples:

Trapped in Time could be summed up in the premise: what if we had to live the same day over and over again?". Or After Life would answer the premise "what if we had to learn to live without the person we love?" And he points out that the premises can be applied to many different stories.

2. The topic

Jorge recommends that you talk about topics that you like, that interest you and that have something to do with you. Then, it is important to put light on those elements where you want to put the focus. And also differentiate between topic and idea, and he clarifies this with the example of the story The lion who couldn't write: In the story, the lion falls in love with a lioness who is very intelligent and wants to conquer her with a love letter. But the lion does not know how to write. The theme would be "love" and the idea is that the lion wants to propose to a lioness through a letter, but he can't because he can't write.

3. The first sentence

Jorge poses a question: what does a first sentence in a story have to have to be catching? According to him, a first sentence is the gateway to your story, it is a promise we make to the reader and we have to be able to fulfill that promise. He points out three characteristics that the first sentence should have: it has to be a statement of intent, it is not the first thing you write and it has to be understood the first time. We should not be in a hurry to write this first sentence, as Jorge confesses that it is very likely to come up when the story is already advanced.

Are you interested in stories? Would you like to continue learning about writing? Take a look at Jorge Gonzalvo's course online. Learn how to let your creativity flow and build engaging stories.