Stories are one of the most powerful tools in nonfiction writing. They help readers connect with your ideas, understand complex concepts through real experiences, and remember the lessons long after they finish reading.

These six exercises will help you plan a compelling story chapter by identifying the starting situation, the event that set the story in motion, the challenges and turning points along the way, the outcome, and the lesson your readers should take away. By the end of this workbook, you will have a clear blueprint that can be developed into a complete chapter with the help of AI.

Fill out your answers directly on this webpage. Please note that your answers cannot be saved automatically, so make sure to complete all six exercises in one sitting or keep the browser tab open while you work.

Once you're finished, you can copy your answers, generate an AI writing brief, or print the workbook as a PDF for future reference.

Workbook Questions

Your story chapter plan 0 of 4 sections completed
Working title
What was the situation before the story began?
Who is involved?
What did they want?
What challenge or problem existed?
What event triggered the story?
What decision had to be made?
What obstacles or setbacks appeared?
What happened that was unexpected?
What realization or breakthrough occurred?
What changed because of this insight?
What action was taken differently afterward?
What happened in the end?
How is the situation different now?
What should readers learn from this story?
How does this connect to the chapter's message?
Instructions for the AI draft

Your AI Writing Brief