Through my work, I purchased an interactive badge for SXSW. For those that aren’t familiar, SXSW is a nine-day festival filled with tech sessions, music performances, movie releases, comedy, art, health, and beauty events. And lots of other random things that pop up. For example, I took a picture at the Hot Ones booth, like I was about to throw down a gauntlet of spicy vegan wings.

One of the many sessions I attended was about storytelling and how to create a short story in a matter of minutes. The presenter, Colleen Schell, founder of FABx, was energetic and delightful. She read her personal story before breaking it down for us.

What I liked about it was that it would be a great template for a bio before a presentation or even for an intro of the protagonist in the first pages of the novel.

Here are my notes of her breakdown on creating a short, powerful story. Plus a bonus takeaway:

• Share your truth: what you learned and earned the hard way.
• Share your struggle and journey: what didn’t go well and how did you make it through? 
• Use present voice: instead of passive voice and past tense. Write as if it is happening now to put readers and the audience in the scene.
• Start in the action: for example, the kitchen is on fire. Show the pain of the actions.
• Relay the emotion: emote and pass it to your audience. Everyone’s situation might be different but the feeling and struggle is universal.

Bonus takeaway: Don’t make yourself the hero of the story.

You can listen to Colleen’s presentation on the SXSW event page.