Want to write more about your life when you finish all your assignments? Here's a review of some helpful story writing tips:

Here are some final tips/guidelines/reminders for writing your life. You have already completed many of the following suggestions when doing earlier drafts of Task 1 and 3 or in the workshops, but all of the key suggestions are included here for your reference.

1. The Writing Process - Good writing is a process that involves several steps, and there is purpose to each step. Don't imagine you can write a good essay "all at once".

First: Think of an important and meaningful experience or idea that you want to share. Choose something that you care about. Think about it, trying to recall every detail and implication. Relive the experience in your mind. This can be done 'invisibly' as you're waiting in line, on the bus or lying in bed.

Second: Get it out. Brainstorm. Write out everything that you want to include in your story. The purpose is to explore what you want to say and how to say it. You may write in paragraphs or a list format without any concern about the structure or style. Include sketches if it helps free the story from your memory. You are discovering what you have to say.

Third: Organize the story into paragraphs. Balance the length of the paragraphs (none too long and not too many short ones) Begin to think about the structure - the balance of content and description. Have you included enough description of the characters and setting? Is there any dialogue so we can hear the voices of the people in your story? Is there a distinct beginning, middle and end?

Fourth: Let others read it to give you honest feedback from another point of view. What is the emotional impact of the story? Is it interesting - or what would make it more interesting? Is it clear? What questions do readers want answered?

Fifth: Revise. This can be, in fact, many steps, as good writers often revise many times. The goal is to make your story "clean", eliminating anything that is unnecessary or irrelevant and ordering the parts of the story to make it flow smoothly. At the same time, try to keep it fresh, which means the story should reflect your voice and character - and not be 'overworked' or artificial. Try to find a balance.

Sixth: Polish. Pay close attention to grammar, spelling, punctuation and format.

2. Your Point of View - The point of view of an autobiographical essay is your own. But you should decide if it is from the point of view you had when you experienced the story (living and learning through the events) or from a later point (now) when you can clearly see what you went through. How much you include about the point of view of others in the story may also be important.

3. Consider the Reader - Your story is unique, no matter how familiar some of the experiences may seem to you. You should judge how much, how little and exactly what details from your story are needed to tell your readers about what may be familiar or unfamiliar experiences and contexts for them. For example, walking on a crowded city street is a familiar experience that may not need much detail. But if something unusual happened, it would be important to describe the setting. Everyone has had a friend, but no one has had the friendship that you have with your best friend.

4. Include a good title - A good title should capture something that is unique about your story. It may be the most important person or experience, but it should not be very plain, like "My Mom" or "The Competition".

5. The Opening - The start of the story should catch the reader's attention. It should be relatively short and introduce an idea, a character or an experience. Normally the opening will be a very close up, sharp focus or a step back, giving context and perspective to the story that will follow. What works best for your story?

6. The Tone - Use adjectives, colors, descriptions, examples and similes or metaphors that match the mood of the story. Be sincere and direct - there is no need to exaggerate the feelings or significance of what happened or insist on what happened. We believe you. Use vocabulary that is consistent and natural to you, not academic. Unless you are a scholarly, academic person! Remember to use words that describe how people experience events, which is through their senses: What would someone who was with you see, hear, feel, smell, touch or taste? By showing the scene and describing the senses, you can take your readers there with you.

7. The Pace - The pace of the story refers to how quickly the story moves along. This includes at least two important elements: the time period covered in your story and the amount of detail about each event that is told. If a one-thousand word story covers three days of your life, you can include more detail about what happened. If the same length story covers three months (or three years), you have to skip a lot of time, leave out events, and choose which few parts to describe in more detail. The pace is influenced a lot by the length of paragraphs, the amount of detail given, and how much dialogue is included.

8. Dialogue - Life stories are about people, and dialogues let the reader "hear" the voices of the people in your life, including you. By carefully selecting some dialogues to include, you can make a deeper impression of the characters and events of your story, and take the reader into the experience by hearing what you heard. Don't exclude dialogues, but don't overdo it either!

9. The Focus - The most important style advice is to "show not tell". The essence of good storytelling is lived experience. By showing character, setting and events, you invite readers to experience the story with you and share in the meaning of your life. If you begin by caring about the story and then focus on the people and moments you want your readers to experience, it will expand the reader's experience to include your own. Check the focus by "visualizing" each part of the story as it unfolds. Is there enough information and detail for others to experience it?

10. Inside/Out - Writers sometimes include too much 'internal' dialogue, writing about what they felt or thought without connecting it to life experience. It is much better to write about what happened in your life to create those thoughts and feelings. If it's done well, very little explanation will be needed.

11. The Conclusion - Most WYL essays will have a lesson learned or insight discovered. How directly do you want to say it? Should it be at the very end - or is it better to include it earlier and finish with a final step (of something that happened) in the story? Think about whether it would be better to leave the reading "thinking" or "seeing".

Make sure the final version is grammatically correct and looks nice. Do you want to include a picture or drawing that reflects the mood of your story? Good idea... do it!