Story for B1 Writing

your story should be visually appealing

Write your title in capital letters.

Leave a clear space between paragraphs

Expressions to use in your story

different expressions you can use in the different parts of a story. While the vocabulary used in the story
will vary completely, depending on the topic, there is a set of expressions which you can make use of quite
frequently if you memorise them beforehand. Let’s take a look:

How to begin a story

When you start a story, if the first sentence isn’t given to you, you can use phrases like these:

It all began…

When I first…

At the beginning…

It was a hot/cold summer/winter day.

Time phrases

One of the great differences between writing a letter, essay, article and so on, and writing a story is the
need to pay careful attention to the time over which the story develops. In order to define the order of the
events in the story, we must use time expressions or time phrases. So let’s see a few:

Then

After that

Not long aftewards

As soon as

While

Meanwhile

As

Some time later

A little later

____ minutes later

a moment later
Later (that morning/afternoon/day/night…)

Just then

It is essential to use these expressions properly. Otherwise, it won’t be clear exactly how the story
develops.

Creating suspense

When writing a story, the aim is not to inform or to convey information; the real purpose is to entertain the
reader, just like when you read a novel you expect to be entertained. For this reason, a story, even a story
for Preliminary (PET) Writing Part 3 should aim to do so: entertain. And a cool way to entertain is to create
suspense, which we can do by using some of the following expressions:

Suddenly

All of a sudden

Without warning

Just at that moment

Unexpectedly

Out of the blue

Out of nowhere

Right away

Straight away

Direct speech

In every story there are characters and they usually interact with each other, so it is always good if you
know how to use direct speech, that is, reproduce the words the characters actually say or think. The tricky
bit about this is the punctuation and the verbs to choose, because it’s good to use some verbs other than
«say». Let’s take a look at some examples:

«I’m coming with you,» she said.

She said, «I’m coming with you.»

«Do you like it?» he asked.

«Don’t do it!» he screamed.

Pay close attention at where the comma (,) or other punctuation marks go (?, !). Also, don’t forget to use
inverted commas («…») to enclose the direct speech. In British English we normally use single inverted
commas (‘…’), but it’s not important so choose the one that suits you best.

Finishing your story

This paragraph, the resolution, should be separated from the rest, and it’s a good idea to start it with one of
the following expressions:

In the end

Finally

When it was all over

Eventually

After everything that happened

Luckily

Again, these are just a few examples. There’s no right or wrong way to conclude a story, as long as it makes
sense with the rest of the piece of writing.

Verb tenses

One of the reasons why stories are particularly challenging for B1 students is that they tend to take place in
the past, which makes it necessary to use a range of past tenses approriately. The main three past tenses
you should really try to use are the following:

Past simple (-ed/irregular form)

Past continuous

Past perfect

If you take a look at the example of Writing Part 3 above, you’ll see how I used these tenses in combination,
when possible:

Past simple and continuous:

It was midnight and I was trying to sleep.

Past perfect and simple:

I had completely forgotten it was my birthday.

Past simple:

This time I picked up the phone quickly and shouted, «Hello?!».

So that’s how you should try to tell your story. Please avoid a simple succession of past simple tenses alone,
like:
I woke up and got out of bed. Then I went to the kitchen and made some coffee.

It’s not wrong, but it’s just not good enough for a story.

Video Links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5cyIsCApJo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob6qOIMsnE4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWYrbp5PoR8

Another example story for B1 Writing Part 2

Now that we know what expressions we should be using when writing a story and how to combine the
different tenses, let’s take another look at another task and a sample answer:

Cambridge English B1 Preliminary PET Writing Story sample 2

In the story above you can see different things:

Well-defined structure: 3 clear paragraphs.

A variety of past tenses: past simple (was tired, didn’t want, etc.), past continuous (was getting off, was
sleeping, etc.) and past perfect (had broken, had stopped, etc.).

Time expressions: in the end, when, a few hours later.

Suspense elements: all of a sudden, without a warning.

Top 5 Tips for Writing a Story for PET Writing

Learn, memorise and use some of these expressions. Make sure you already know a set of expressions to
use in your next story. This will not only avoid you making mistakes, but also it will make your story so
much better! It will give you points to use those expressions.

Write a well-structured and visually-appealing story. One of the things Cambridge English examiners pay
attention to is the organisation of your piece writing, so make sure not to write an incoherent story. Also,
remember that punctuation matters, so be sure to separate your sentences with stops and commas and
don’t write sentences which are too long.
Brainstorm before you write. Before starting to write your story, brainstorm a couple of things and write
down some ideas. This can include vocabulary related to the topic, connectors, time phrases, etc. Also,
decide before writing how the story is going to end.

Revise, edit and improve. Don’t write all at once and then move on. Once you have finished your story go
over it. Look for possible mistakes. Look for ways to improve it, maybe adding adjectives here and there.
You can save many points by simply reviewing what you’ve written.

Experiment at home, be conservative in the exam. Homework is the best chance to be creative and
experiment with stories. So make sure you try your hardest to keep improving when you write at home. On
the other hand, when you’re doing an exam, don’t risk trying out new words or expressions, as you may be
making a terrible mistake. So be safe in your exam and stick to what you already know works.

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