1. The Narrative Personal or fictional

2. How to Get Started Journal writing. Everyday experiences make humorous, serious, poignant or meaningful stories. Sit and write about your day. Sit and examine an everyday experience, then write what happened and what you learned.

3. Think about Personal History. What early experience involved fright, danger, discovery or excitement? What experience taught you a valuable lesson? What incident in your life made you mature or change your outlook?

4. Examine relationships. Has a significant relationship changed or altered? Did that experience teach you anything? Have you ever worshipped a role model or been treated as a favorite? Has someone let you down?

5. Personal witness. Have you ever witnessed an important event in sports, history, science or other field of endeavor? Tell the story now that you are more aware of its true meaning.

6. Think about places. Describe a particularly important event that happened to you in a special place. Reflect on its importance and meaning.

7. Examine your own personal sayings. Do you live by a personal saying? Why do you believe in this saying? Is there a saying you have heard that drives you crazy? What experience convinced you to accept (or reject) the validity of that saying?

8. Ask your family. Don’t your families just love to tell those embarrassing childhood stories of yours? What does that story of yours tell about your personality? What is your version of the story? What do you learn about yourself by examining your childhood moments of glory (or infamy)?