Choose the story you wish to tell. It often helps if you or someone you know is involved in the story, as you must make the story realistic for your audience.
Identify words and details you wish to incorporate into your story. Make a list of these ideas. Show the reader the story, don't just tell it. Use sensory details to describe how things and events smell, hear, taste, feel and look.
Write an outline of your narrative. From this point, you can determine whether it is best to tell the story in a linear or non-linear fashion. Using flashbacks and an atypical structure can be interesting for the reader, but it can also be harmful to your writing if the story does not merit such a storyline.
Determine whether you want to tell the story in first, second or third person. Ask yourself if you want the narrator to be reliable or unreliable.
Write your narrative using your outline and decision. You may choose to change the viewpoint or move away from your outline. Read your story out loud and pay close attention to pacing and the details you use. Ask yourself if it is interesting to you. Rewrite as necessary.
Identify the main themes from the body of your paper. Write your introduction and conclusion after the body of the paper is written.
Use a quote, question or anecdote to begin your introduction. This sentence is your way of making a first impression on your reader and must grab attention, and it must be relevant to your topic. Start with a broader topic and you will end the introduction with a very concise and specific statement, much like an inverted triangle.
Write your thesis statement or main topic of the paper. Everything you write about in the body of your paper should relate back to this statement. You must be certain all data in the body of your paper supports your thesis. Do not use phrases like "I will tell you" or "you will see."
Write a transition from your attention-grabber to your thesis. Once again, picture an inverted triangle. You are moving from a broad statement to a specific one. Connect the dots for your reader.
Write a conclusion based on your introduction. Restate your thesis to remind the reader at the beginning of the conclusion. Wrap up all your thoughts in a couple of sentences, and do not add any new information. You should not say anything in your conclusion that is not in your paper. End your conclusion with a statement that references something in your introduction. For instance, if you began your introduction with a quote, make a comment that references the quote.