Gathering Story Ideas From Your Personal Life

1. Think of people who matter to you and list a memorable moment you’ve shared with that person.
- My brother and I were eating dinner and we realized that our parents' hatred of each other was childish and stupid

2. Think of the first times or last times you did something. Think about the important moments that took place during them.
-Last time I went to Taiwan it was really nostalgic
-The first time I beat a video game the accomplishment was awesome

3. Think of moments that really mattered because you realized or learned something important.
-When I realized I had been robbed twice and my parents were divorced I realized many things in this world are unfair but not everything is bad

Gathering Story Ideas From Your Personal Life - Narrative

It all started when I was just thinking that my life was just a bottom line generic life. I was going to school and being an average student. Then a few years later everything went wrong. I had been robbed not once but twice and my parents fighting had gotten worse and worse over time to the point that my parents were seeing a psychiatrist inevitably my parents got divorced. This surprisingly didn’t bother me much but my brother was downright breaking down over the divorce to the point where after a stressful dinner with my dad he considered committing suicide but luckily was smart enough to understand the consequences of death. Then one time I was just sitting on the couch in my house and I finally understood that my life didn’t have to be this way it was nothing but bad luck and I realized I got nothing back for going through this suffering it just wasn’t fair. Then I realized that life isn’t fair and I would just have to put up with it.

Story Ideas
Pay attention to small moments in your life that could be fictionalized
Consider places where stories could take place and then imagine those stories
Read about current events in the news. Allow yourself to be inspired by true events that could be fictionalized
Ask “What stories do I wish existed in the world?” Let the questions lead you to invent a character with traits

Story Idea 1
Darren a 14 year old boy is going through a bad time with how his parents are getting divorced and how much his parents talk very negatively about each other. It gets even worse when his 17 year old brother William suicides after a very stressful conversation with his father by throwing himself in front of a car going very fast. This results in Darren’s parents blaming each other for William’s death making this divorce even worse. Darren doesn’t want to choose a side between his mother and father. With Darren pressured by his parents to choose a side and his very limited decisions he could make Darren does however know one thing that will help him with his current situation and that is that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

Story Idea 2
    William Payne a 16  year old boy grows distant from his friends Celeste and Dan who’re both 16 and are siblings due to their unknown increase in wealth. Their increase and wealth somehow gets them into the popular kids group making the kids very distant. Brian becomes friends with a non-popular kid named Thomas and the two decide to prank the popular kids by messing up their homes because of the rumors they’re spreading about them. Brian and Thomas discover a horrifying truth when breaking into Dan and Celeste’s house. They discover that the family’s sudden increase in wealth is due to the fact that the parents of the family was behind a recent robbery and that Celeste and Dan don’t know about the robbery. Thomas wants to call the cops but Brian doesn’t actually want to ruin his two past friends reputations.

Story Idea 3
    Rick a 14 year old boy must question his own morales when he is forced to injure a man in self defense. The man had broken into his house and attempted to rob the house. The man had planned on doing the crime when his parents weren’t around but he completely forgot about Rick. Rick injures the man by shooting him in the leg using his father’s rifle but by doing this Rick must put up with the regret of hurting this man even though he was robbing his family’s house. Rick hears from many people what they think of this incident but in the end Rick must ultimately decide if he should be disgusted at what he has done or proud.
Developing Characters
    My name is William Payne just another 16 year boy that’s a high schooler. I could feel the cold wind on my face on and my grin on my way to school on my bike that I’ve used for as long as I can remember. The bike was too big for me when I first got it anyway. I never stopped my grin to the point that I even grinned while I slept. Not only was there the cold wind there was the rain. The dark clouds filled me with a sense of uneasiness. I finally arrived at my school after passing the rows and rows of houses. I walked into the area of the school with the most space. The rows of classrooms and lockers seemed to almost laugh at me as I tried to find cover from the rain. The whole school seemed to be full of gloom but not as much as I always felt. The whole atmosphere of the school filled me with more unease than on my way here or maybe it was just the thought that today was Monday. A group of kids near me started talking about my grin. I gave them an intimidating look and they stopped talking.

Story Ideas: Internal vs. External

Final Story Proposal
    William Payne a 16 year old boy has very bad relations with the popular kids at his school mainly a person named Bill Temer because they are bullying his friend Dan. William isn’t scared of the popular kids and can’t decide if he should hurt the popular kids over this because he thinks violence is not the answer. William saves a kid named Thomas from the popular kids wrath and becomes his friend. William and Thomas have very bad relations with the popular kids and William can’t help but think about what might happen. As his relations with the popular kids gets worse he decides he’ll have to forget about not hurting them and just confront them.

External Conflicts or Motivations:
-Thomas is too scared of the popular kids and can’t confront them

-William wants to confront the popular kids but he has to stop being so scared.

-Dan thinks that he should do something about the popular kids not knowing what William or Thomas are thinking about

-Celeste wants to help Dan and mostly agrees with William and Thomas’s  approach to the problem

Internal Conflicts or Motivations
-Thomas hates the popular kids so much he wants to hurt them but isn’t brave enough to do anything about it

-William hates the popular kids but is open to other solutions

-Dan wants to do something about the popular kids but he’s not strong enough to fight them

-Celeste badly wants to help Dan, William, and Thomas
Story Arc 1:
1.William talks about how the popular kids bully Dan and Celeste and how much he hates it.

2.William saves Thomas from the popular kids and becomes his friend.

3.William and Thomas go to Dan’s house to talk to him and introduce him to Thomas but find out that some people had beat him up and that he was recovering from it.

4.William and Thomas run into the popular kids who are angry at William because he helped Thomas and reveal that they were the ones who beat up Dan and Celeste.

5.William and Thomas don’t get along with the popular kids with both groups leaving unhappy after their not so pleasant conversation with the kids.

6.William and Thomas run into Dan and Celeste with William saying that he’ll do something about the popular kids.

7.William and Thomas get into a fistfight with the popular kids because they’re still mad at him over how he helped Thomas.

8.William and Thomas manage to escape the popular kids and wonder what happened to Dan and Celeste because they weren’t at the fight. William and Thomas run into Dan and Celeste again who thank the two for all they have done and the four leave happily.

Story Arc 2:
1.William gets to school and describes who he is.

2.William goes to school and runs into a random kid which is Thomas.

3.William runs into a Dan who seems down after running into the popular kids.

4.William runs into and saves Thomas from the popular kids.

5.The two run into Celeste who tells William to meet her at the Triangle Donut Shop.

6.William brings Thomas with him and meet with Celeste who brought Dan to the Triangle Donut Shop and Thomas and William saying that they will do something about the popular kids and tell the two stay out of this making Celeste leave the popular kids group and Dan agreeing to stay out of their way.

7.The next day after school is over Thomas and William runs into Bill and the popular kids who aren't very happy with how William saved Thomas yesterday and how he treated them. William and Thomas get the kids so mad that a fistfight starts.

8.William and Thomas miraculously win the fistfight and run to avoid the teachers. William and Thomas know that the kids got what they deserved and the two walk home.      
Final Draft
William R. Payne
William
     I am William Payne just another black haired and black eyed 16 year old boy at my school Marker high school. It wasn’t the most ordinary of days as the sky seemed to cry in sorrow that day as the teardrops that was rain seemed to pierce through the clouds and hit me as I walked through the rain. My life doesn’t have many problems but if one does arrive I face it head on no matter what it is. Speaking of problems I have new neighbors who apparently have a kid that goes to my school but I haven’t talked to them yet but it doesn’t matter it’s a problem for later I was getting near the school. I arrived at Marker high school soaking wet.
“Good news I bought a raincoat.” I said to myself.
The rain gave me an odd sense of unease. I started to look for my friends but the school seemed empty and drenched with gloom and my friends Dan and Celeste were like ghosts nowhere to be seen. I wondered what the popular kids at my school were doing, those kids were like a pack of wolves if they stopped while they were near you they were going to do something to you but I wouldn’t know what they did to you I just know it’s nothing good. I started walking towards my 1st period class the gloomy atmosphere made me think something was wrong but rain only represents something going wrong in movies and books that’s a book cliche everybody knows that. I found my first period class language arts and stopped at the bottom of the ramp. The bell hadn’t rung yet and I had no reason to go to class yet.
    My school was pretty big as it was made up of the locker area and rooms, the cafeteria, the open field, two bigger areas for the classrooms, storage area, and blacktop. None of them seemed very welcoming at the time though.
“Hi.” I heard a voice from behind me.
I spun around and saw a kid I didn’t recognize. He had black hair and brown eyes and didn’t seem to stick out among the other kids at this school but then again for some reason there was barely anyone here so I wouldn’t know.
“What are you doing here it’s six in the morning?” He asked in a very cheerful tone.
“Wait what?” I asked dumbfounded.
I looked at my watch that read 7:00. I then noted that my watch read 7:00 when I left my house which meant my watch was broken.
“My watch is broken so I left my house too early.” I answered.
“So why are you here?” I asked.
“Oh uh I just like coming here early that’s all.” He responded in a different tone than before.
He looked nervous he was definitely hiding something. He started pacing back and forth but it was obvious he didn’t even know that he was pacing back and forth himself. He was definitely uneasy for some reason. Before I could even say another word he started running away.  
“Wait who are you?” I said, “Don’t run away!” I said but he was too far away to hear the question.
I started wondering why he ran so fast and then noticed that some other kids were showing up which probably meant Dan and Celeste was here but it also meant that kids was running from something or possibly someone but his problems wouldn’t affect me right? Dan and Celeste are both not in my first period class but I usually see them walk by or something. I kept pondering this all the way up to brunch when I actually attempted looking for them. I started thinking about where they might be and how today was just going to be yet another boring day but I was wrong dead wrong.
The whole day just changed when I ran into Dan again. It was after lunch that I actually managed to find Dan. I was in the open blacktop area when I spotted him near some lockers. I instantly went to talk to him. Dan had brown hair and blue eyes unlike me and it was usually how I spotted him among other people.
“Hey Dan how’ve you been?” I asked.
Dan looked at me like I didn’t exist and just absent mindedly replied “Oh hey William.”
“Dan where’ve you been?” I asked.
“Oh I’m fine William can you just get to your next period or something?” He asked.
Dan was not acting like himself at all. He would never tell me to leave and he wouldn’t ignore me and look down at the floor. Something was definitely bothering him.
“Dan what’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing William just go away I have something I need to take care of.” He replied looking down and not making eye contact.
“Dan you can tell me what happened we’re friends after all.” I told him.
“Dan stop being such a pest and go away!” Dan said looking at me angrily.
“What’s going on Dan why are you acting this way!?” I asked angrily.
“Just go away!” Dan told me and then walked away angrily before I could even say another word.
Right after Dan walked away the rain seemed to get even stronger. For Dan to act like this was so out of character. Dan would never get so angry so quickly is unheard of something was wrong. To make things worse the bell rang right there leaving me no time to look for Dan. My second attempt at looking  for him was after school ended. I was just walking down one of the school hallways when I saw the kid that talked to me this morning I really wanted to know his name because he didn’t answer me this morning. He wasn’t alone though he was with the popular kids. I then registered in my mind that he was not having a conversation with them he was their next victim. It was pretty obvious though because he was backed against a wall while the popular kids were laughing at him.
I then noted that the kid that seemed to act like he was better than everybody else with the way he walked and how he stood up was about to punch the kid I ran into this morning. I knew I had to do something about this but I just froze in fear and time seemed to stop as I realized my cowardice. What was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I do anything? Before I even realized what was going on I jumped in front of the kid that was about to throw a punch and took the blow and got pushed back against the wall next to the kid I talked to this morning.
“What the heck!” The kid who threw the punch screamed in shock.
The other kids burst into laughter and I noted they were laughing at both me and the kid that threw the punch.
“What’s your problem!?” The kid who threw the punch angrily asked me his face still red from embarrassment.
My body did the freeze in fear and stop time thing which the person next to me seemed to be doing as well.
“Well!” He asked again.
He threw another punch hitting me straight in the face.
“That kid really showed you Bill!” One of his friends said still laughing.
“I have many problems with you.” I barely managed to get out.
“You have many problems with me but what can someone like you do about it.” Bill said mockingly.
“I’m William Payne and I will do something about you.” I still barely managed to get out.
“Well Payne you’re a real pain you know that!” He screamed at me.
He walked away still red from embarrassment and his friends still laughing at him. That kid was way too prideful and narcissistic.
“That was awesome thanks!” The kid next to me that I forgot about suddenly said.
“You’re William Payne right I’m Thomas countdown.” Thomas said excitedly in the cheerful tone I heard him use this morning.
I got up and started to walk away because he was kinda annoying but Thomas kept following me.
“I can’t believe you stood up to the popular kids no one’s ever done that!” Thomas told me excitedly.
“We should hang out together some time.” Thomas said still excited.
I couldn’t believe this was the kid I talked to this morning. He seemed so scared and gloomy at that time.
“Yeah sure.” I replied not really paying attention to what I was saying.
Just then I heard a voice from behind me.
“Hey William.” I heard the voice say in a very happy tone.
I spun around and saw it was my other good friend Celeste. Celeste also has black hair and black eyes but her hair is much longer than mine. Dan’s even joked about how similar we look.
“Oh hi Celeste .” I said very boringly.
“Hey be more optimistic William.” Celeste said looking me straight in the eyes.
I kind of stepped back a bit because she did that.
“Who’re you?” Thomas asked in his optimistic tone.
“Oh hi I’m Celeste who’re you” She asked back.
“I’m Thomas Countdown.” Thomas said pointing at himself.
After Thomas said that Celeste seemed to be looking at me and then I remembered that I was punched by Bill a couple of times and never worried about my injuries.
“Umm William what happened to you?” Celeste asked worryingly.
“Nothing much I was just having a conversation with the popular kids.” I said like nothing big had happened.
Celeste could obviously  tell that I was roughed up by the popular kids so everything I said to reassure her wouldn’t work.
“First Dan and now you the popular kids must really not like you two.” She said even more worryingly than before.
“I think the popular kids mentioned that a kid named Dan was the popular kids victim before me but it was before you showed up William” Thomas said.
That was why Dan was feeling so down and angry when I saw him today. He was the popular kids victim before I found him. It’s just like Thomas but I wasn’t there to help Dan. I wish I knew when I went to talk to him. Dan is easily bothered by these kind of things so I can’t even imagine the effect it had on him.
“We have to talk to Dan about this.” I said very quickly and suddenly.
“Yeah you’re right so I think tomorrow we can all meet at the Triangle Donut Shop!” Celeste said not using her worried tone but a more enthusiastic tone.
“I’ll find Dan and get him to come.” Celeste said confidently looking around as if looking for Dan.
“Can I come!” Thomas in the most excited tone I’ve ever seen.
The tone was so exciting it scared me a little.
“I don’t really know you that well though.” Celeste said quietly.
“You can come.” I suddenly said.
Celeste looked up at me. I don’t know why I said he could come I probably just felt bad for him about almost being the popular kids victim.
“It’s okay if you say so I suppose.” Celeste said moving her head agreeingly.
“So we’ll meet at 4:30 tomorrow if you can make it.” Celeste informed us.
Both of us said in surprising unison, “See ya later.”
All of us went our separate ways as Celeste doesn’t live near me at all. Thomas actually followed me though I suppose he lives near me. Thomas looked as if he had stopped his incredibly excited burst of adrenaline he had when I saved him. I wanted to talk but he went a separate path from mine and then he was gone. I headed home and couldn’t concentrate on my homework but I didn’t know why. I eventually did finish it though and ate my dinner. I then hurriedly went to bed. I had so many thoughts such as why did I help Thomas? Would it be better just to have left him alone? Is Dan mad at me? What should I do about the popular kids? Will I still be too scared to confront the popular kids?
       BANG! I woke up my head hurting. It was day and luckily my alarm hasn’t even gone off. I suddenly realized that the bang sound was from me falling off my bed and hitting the floor. Looking out the window the rain looked weaker than yesterday. I got ready and read books until it was time for me to go to school. When I arrived at school there was actually people there this time but Thomas, Dan, Celeste, and even Bill were nowhere to be seen.
The day seemed to be a blur but in that blur nothing big or important happened. I only ran into Thomas but he was nowhere as excited as yesterday and didn’t really have much to say. At last school ended and I went home. I finished my homework and headed toward the Triangle Donut Shop since it was time. On my way there I ran into Thomas.
“So why do you want to come with us to the shop?” I asked Thomas who turned around surprised at my presence.
Thomas looked like he didn’t want to answer the question but he eventually decided to tell me.
“I’ve been bullied by those popular kids for so long and I don’t have any friends but when you stood up to them like that I wanted to be your friend so badly I mean you’re basically the only one who has ever stood up to them like that.” He finally said in a unexcited tone.
That actually made a lot of sense though as I’ve never been bullied by the popular kids so I wouldn’t know what kind of effect that has on a person.
“I’ve been thinking what should we do about the popular kids?” Thomas asked changing the subject.
I had no idea on how to answer that question because I had been pondering that question all night and no answer.
“Hey what’re you thinking about we’re here!” Thomas said trying to get my attention.
“Oh we are here huh.” I said pointing to the Triangle Donut Shop.
When the two of us went inside we found the table that Celeste was sitting at and she brought Dan with her as she had promised. She was trying to smile as if nothing bad was going on but her smile was obviously fake.
“Oh hey you two!” Celeste called to us with a happy tone that had sadness mixed in.
The two of us sat down and I noted that Dan didn’t look much better from when I last saw him.
“Oh hey Dan.” I said to Dan.
“Hi William and you’re Thomas I guess.” Dan said in the least enthusiastic tone and acted as if he was sitting at the table alone. I can’t even imagine how Celeste convinced him to come.
“So Dan how’s it going?” I asked.
“Nothing much.” He replied without making eye contact.
He was really making me mad.
“Dan come on open up to us what’s going on with you and the popular kids?!” I asked in a very stern tone.
“This is a total waste of time.” Dan said getting up to leave still not making eye contact.
“Dan enough!” I said to Dan while pulling him down.
“What is it?!” Dan asked angrily.
“What’s going on with you?!” I asked angrily back.
Thomas and Celeste looked very startled from our sudden argument.
Dan suddenly calmed down as he saw how startled Thomas and Celeste looked.
Dan sighed and then told us the truth of why he was so sad recently, “It’s not their insults or jokes that get to me it’s that sense of helplessness that comes over me.”
“How can I be such a coward!” Dan said closing his eyes in anger.
Thomas and I looked at each other because we both have felt this feeling but we weren’t bothered by it like Dan was.
“Dan stop this don’t worry I can take care of this.” I said assuringly and confidently.
Dan stopped closing his eyes and looked at me. Thomas wasn’t surprised he looked as if he could read my thoughts.
“You can trust this guy he saved me from the popular kids after all!” Thomas said happily.
Dan looked really surprised that I would bear the burden of taking confronting the popular kids.
Dan smiled and said, “I’ll put my trust in you then.”
Yes Dan was finally back to his old self but I didn’t really know if could confront the popular kids alone. Suddenly Thomas put his hand on my shoulder and smiled. That’s right I wasn’t alone Thomas would help me as I don’t think Dan or Celeste would be much help.
“That’s over with now then let’s eat donuts!” Dan said happily.
All of us ate donuts laughing and making jokes and then we all went home. The next day a hint of desperation crept into the rain as if it was trying to get as much rain out as possible before it was over. Me and Thomas were leaving home when I suddenly noticed that the popular kids were nearby. Dan and Celeste were also not nearby this was perfect. I went up to Bill and started talking.
“Hey Bill what store are you going to raid after school this time?” I asked confidently.
“Oh it’s you and that other kid move out of my way!” Bill said expecting us to move.
“Bill stop being such losers and maybe you won’t get hurt.” I said even more confidently.
Bill tried to punch me out of anger but I grabbed his fist and then pushed him back. I started looking around there were five other kids surrounding us and saw that Thomas had already kicked another one apparently both of us weren’t scared anymore. This wasn’t going to be easy, we were outnumbered. Some kids were gathering around wanting to see the fight. I pushed one of them into another one the two fell over squirming to get up. When they eventually got up the two quit and ran away which I honest think is the most cowardly thing I’ve ever seen.
“Hey what the heck!” Bill screamed.
Thomas kicked another one and that kid rammed into a nearby trashcan. The kid looked too tired to get up. I grabbed a nearby students water bottle much to his surprise and luckily it was full. The only other kid beside Bill charged at me ready to kick me and I threw the bottle and missed. I braced myself for a blow but suddenly Thomas kicked the kid from behind and I just pushed the flinching kid into a nearby wall and the kid quit and ran away after that. Now it was just Bill and I saw him charge at me ready to kick me. I threw the hardest punch I’ve ever thrown and hit him straight in the face. The punch was strangely satisfying even though I was beating up a kid. The punch seriously hurt my fist though but Bill ran away in fear after that punch. Me and Thomas started running to avoid the teachers. When we were finally far away from the school Thomas said
“Hey man it’s over now isn’t it?”
“You’re right it’s finally over.” I replied.
I suddenly saw a poster on a nearby wall that had you’re in a narrative written on it. I’m in a narrative what does that mean?
“Why are you looking at that poster that says com to Bob’s Barbecue?” Thomas asked me.
I suddenly realized that was what it said and just blamed it on my imagination.
“It’s nothing let’s just go home.” I said happily. 
The rain stopped as the two of us walked home and the sun shined brightly which it hadn’t done in a long time.

The End