How To Craft a Powerful Story Of the Week

Updated Tips (2/17) For How to Craft a Powerful Story of the Week

Even if you think you know how to SOW, let go of that and please follow this “new and improved” approach:

Think of your S.O.W. as an opportunity to savor and make the most of the events of your week. Remember the mantra for Friday afternoon “Celebrate the best and let go of the rest!”
Imagine yourself a year from now. What would you hope to remember as the most meaningful moments and insights from this week in your life?
Resist the urge to take your story in unplanned directions. Use specific, compelling details but avoid veering away from your outline.
Consider that your story might be shared with others at some point –with your permission only, of course– and choose your title/language/details with that in mind.

If you have kept track of your Significant Developments, GLEE and Story Material from the week, review them. If not, don’t sweat it; just check your calendar, emails, voice memos if you make any, to jog your memory and try to think back on your week and then Collect your content by jotting down:

2-3 significant developments from the week that you want to mention. These are emotionally resonant things that happened for you that made this week somehow different from all other weeks. These need not be “positive.” By themselves they may or may not be of great interest to others. For example “getting a big piece of wood out of my toe that was buried deep in there for 24 days,” “launching a major new work initiative,” “yelling at my kid and then having a reconciliation and discussion about forgiveness.”
2-4 moments of GLEE from your week that really sing to you the most and that you want to celebrate and remember.
a few (1-3) examples of story material (moments of challenge/frustration/pain) that you can express vividly that were also real for you this week.

Review your PSTs (the Possible Story Titles that presented themselves to you this week in seemingly random moments) and let the possibilities wash over you as you entertain/look for possible connections between them and any (or all) of the elements in step #2 above.

Look for/wait for the “click” — an a-ha moment of clarity– as to how you could use one of the most colorful title possibilities with two or more of the elements in Step #2 (above).

When you have your core concept set with a title and a sense of how that will connect some significant development and some GLEE, articulate the BIGGEST JUICIEST QUESTION you can out of this that is resonant for you and would most likely resonate for other Sparkers.

Think about how you could articulate one or two thoughts or insights in relation to the Big Juicy Question as you go, so you ready yourself to develop the idea a bit.

Plan the opening by writing down what you’ll say verbatim in the first two sentences.

Sentence #1: An attention-grabbing topic sentence (NOT asking/answering the big question).
Sentence #2: “My big juicy question for this week is….”

Try to think of a way you could conclude your story before you begin. This might happen more organically as your story comes to its natural end, but avoid letting it just peter out.