Narrative Tutorial: An Exercise to Help You Create a Good Story

Learn how to find a good story with this brainstorming exercise by Enrique Torralba

Enrique Torralba (@enriquetorralba) is a picture book illustrator. He’s an expert in telling stories without words, published by major companies including Santillana and Alfaguara.

His own story-telling techniques include this interesting exercise based on brainstorming in which you select the best elements to create a basic synopsis.

Torralba teaches you how in the video.

Excercise to Create a Good Story

Torralba’s exercise helps you define the trigger for your story. This is the initial situation, character or item that becomes your starting point. It could even be an emotion, or a memory: anything you can use to spin your story.

So, write down five names, five places, five actions, and five objects.

Then select one of each category: a name, a place, an action and an object. Try to combine them in a way that lets your imagination flow.

It’s generally best to avoid clichés: the name can be the object, the place can be your trigger and so on.

As you look at these random words, you’ll find your mind tying them together. You’re in the process of building your initial scenario or trigger situation!

Now all you need to do is feed your ideas and imagine what comes next!

Love this exercise? Discover the power of silent narration and create meaningfully detailed images in Enrique Torralba’s online course: Narrative Illustration: Tell a Story Without Words.

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- Original Narrative Writing from Start to Finish, a course by Afonso Cruz
- Short Story Writing: Create Fiction from Personal Experience, a course by Shaun Levin
- Writing a Novel Step by Step, a course by Cristina López Barrio