5 Story Structures for English Writing
Five simple shapes that turn a list of facts into a text people read to the end — for emails, reports, case studies and interviews.
1 · And-But-Therefore
Use it for: Any short text that feels like a flat list of facts.
[Situation] and [what was normal]. But [the problem]. Therefore, [what happened next].
“We launched a new feature, and the first week went well. But by week three, almost nobody used it. Therefore, we called ten users and rebuilt it.”
Read the full guide →2 · Hero's Journey (short version)
Use it for: “Tell me about yourself” in an interview, an “About me” page.
Where I started → what changed → who helped me → my hardest problem and how I solved it → what I can give you now.
“… The hardest moment came last winter, when a supplier failed two days before a big delivery. I found a new partner and we delivered on time. Now I want to bring that experience to your team.”
Read the full guide →3 · Before-After-Bridge
Use it for: Emails that propose a change, reports that show results.
Before: the problem now. After: the result. Bridge: how you got from one to the other.
“Response time was 48 hours. Response time is now four hours. We built a help centre that answers 60 per cent of questions first.”
Read the full guide →4 · Three-Act Structure
Use it for: Case studies and “how we solved it” reports.
Act 1: the client and what is at stake. Act 2: the false starts and hard decisions — the longest act. Act 3: the result in numbers and one lesson.
“We rewrote the emails. Nothing changed.” — two honest sentences in Act 2 build more trust than a page of adjectives.
Read the full guide →5 · Challenge-Choice-Outcome
Use it for: Writing about a hard decision: interviews, reviews, project reports.
Challenge: a problem where every option looks bad. Choice: “We considered … but decided … because …”. Outcome: the honest result and one lesson.
“We lost 18 per cent of the pipeline. But our close rate doubled. The lesson: the obvious trade-off is rarely the only one.”
Read the full guide →Practise the language behind the structures
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