Steps for writing a story of change

  • Step 1: Choose a story

    Decide whether your story will be describing an individual story or a situational story. Reflect on some of the changes that have occurred with particular participants.

  • Step 2: Request permissions and consider ethics of sharing the story

    Careful attention should be paid to ethics of specific groups. It is recommended that you develop processes to track consent right at the beginning of your project. Refer to the ethics section for more details.

  • Step 3: Transcribe the story

    If resources permit, get the participants story transcribed. There are affordable transcription services available online

  • Step 4: Write an outline

    Decide what aspects of the story are most important and form the story will take. Consider if certain aspects of the story should be omitted (for example, description of details that could identify individuals or sensitive personal information).

  • Step 5: Write the story

    Once you have an outline it will be straight forward to write the story. Stories should be short and written in plain language to engage a broad range of target groups.

  • Step 6: Check the written story with the participant

    Once you have written the story, it is important to check the written story with the participant to ensure they are happy for the story to be shared as it has been written, if the information is accurate and if there is anything further the participant would like omitted.

A basic story includes:

  • A beginning - introduce key characters and set the scene or context

  • A middle - introduce the issues or conflict from the perspective of the storyteller

  • An end - resolve the story with some key messages or learnings.