So you spent a month in Rome or a summer in Istanbul, or two weeks in Vietnam, or you lived in Morocco for five years, and you want to write about it. A lot happened when you went away, so there’s bound to be some great stories, right? Yet you find yourself either rambling into several stories at once, or facing writer’s block because you’re not sure where the story actually is.
Here’s how to find the story:
Start by identifying a story from your travels that has a beginning hook, a middle backstory, and an ending that provides a resolution and a lesson learned.
That all-important opening hook has to plant a question in the readers’ minds. That question doesn’t need to be life or death. It can actually be very simple. Did you catch the fish? Did you find the perfect crepe? Were you able to open that coconut with an ax? Any question planted in the readers’ minds creates curiosity, and a desire to keep reading.
Once they’re hooked, give readers the backstory. Backstory works on two levels:
1. the circumstance of your travels–why are you in Paris, anyway? What brought you there?
2. your personal story–why do you love crepes so much? What is it about your personal experiences that makes your search for the perfect crepe meaningful?
This backstory will make up the bulk of your story. Bring us back to the present now and then, describing the obstacles in your way as you try to catch that fish or find that crepe or open the coconut, but dive down often into pertinent memories and explanations for how you got yourself into this situation and why your pursuit is worthwhile.
Then bring us to the ending. Answer all the questions you’ve planted. If possible, bring the story full circle, and show us what you learned through this journey.
Here’s an example from my own writing. While I was in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I received a fertility massage from a healer of sorts called Khun Nee.
The opening scene / hook:
a conversation between Khun Nee and myself in her treatment space. The implied question is: why is the narrator there? Will she get pregnant? Will this treatment really work?
The middle backstory:
revealing that my sister lives in Chiang Mai, and successfully received this treatment before me. This is my reason for going to Chiang Mai. As my twin, Brooke and I share many physical similarities, and often the state of our health is aligned. Yet since we’ve lived in many different places, our health has diverged more and more. We hope that this treatment will work for me as it did for her. This is my personal story for being in this situation. This backstory represents the important ‘stakes’ of this moment.
The ending:
I return to Chiang Mai with my four month old baby daughter. The question of whether this treatment will work, and whether my sister and I are still physically similar, is resolved. My sister, baby and I visit Khun Nee for another treatment, bringing the story full circle. I learn the joys of being a twin and sharing so much with my sister, especially motherhood.
Now it’s your turn. Overcome writer’s block and create a story graph, as I describe below. Come up with as many ideas for stories with compelling beginnings, middles and ends as you can.
- Write one of your travel locations in a big circle.
- Write down a brief reason you went there in a connecting circle (‘dream trip’ ‘visit friend’ ‘cheap flight’ ‘quick getaway’ ‘study abroad’).
- Off shooting from that circle, write down short phrases to describe all the moments of your trip that you think could become stories with compelling beginnings, middles and ends (such as, ‘Khun Nee,’ ‘crepes’ or ‘catching fish’).
- Start writing!
Usually, this type of story is around 1500 words.
Head over to the Facebook group and share your story ideas! We’d love to hear them.
