writing essay b1

How to write a story? (writing examples) | B1 Preliminary (PET)

What is a story anyway?

A story is a text about imaginary or real people and events told for entertainment. For this reason, you have full freedom to write , as you can make up most of the story. But just like it happens with every other type of writing, a story must follow a particular structure which makes sense to the reader.

What does it look like on the exam?

You will be given a sentence to start with . You must then continue the story with a clear connection to the opening sentence. Remember, you will need to write about 100 words.

Check our Writing Guide below – to see how to write a story

FCE, CAE, PET

Practice, write & improve, b1 preliminary (pet) story: structure, b1 preliminary (pet) story: how to write a story, step 1: briefly analyse your task.

Writing a story has the advantage that your imagination is not limited and you can come up with whatever you want and put it in your story. The only thing you need to stick to is the sentence your story begins with.

Below you can see a sample exam task:

You should begin your task analysis by asking yourself two questions:

What is the situation?

We can assume the topic is a holiday as a person called Lou is on a plane flying over an island and he’s looking at the beaches. The plane is going lower so it might be getting ready to land.  So simply, your task is to write the story that will describe the further adventures of the main character Lou.

What do I have to include in my story?

The second question is a little bit more open than the first one because you can pretty much write about anything you like the only restriction again is the first sentence and the situation that comes with it. You can make your story funny sad full of action or fantasy and include whatever you can imagine but connect it to the first sentence.

Step 2: Beginning

As we said above in the story you have to start with a given sentence that you get from the task “As the plane flew lower, Lou saw the golden beaches of the island below.”  .

Don’t change the sentence in any way but simply copy it onto your answer sheet and begin your story from there.

Also, it is recommended to add one more sentence to complete the beginning of your story, for example:

As the plane flew lower, Lou saw the golden beaches of the island below . (add one more sentence =>)   The sun was shining brightly, and he said to the woman next to him, “I’m so excited about my holidays!” 

Step 3: Development 

It is really important that the events that you write are in a logical order and that the language you use is interesting and correct.

In general, two paragraphs should be enough.

As soon as Lou got off the plane he left the airport and took a taxi to the city centre because he really wanted to swim in the clear water and sunbathe on the beautiful beach he had seen earlier.

However, when he arrived at the beach he saw that the weather was changing and five minutes later it was raining heavily. Lou ran into a bar and was surprised because someone shouted, “Hi, it’s you again!” 

What language should be used in the story?

If you look a little closer at this example you will notice that the language in which stories are written consists of some characteristic elements.

PAST TENSES

The first noticeable characteristic is that a variety of past tenses are used.

While we normally use the past simple to describe all the main events we might want to talk about things that happened before the main events or that were happening at the same time in this case we can use the past perfect or past continues.

As soon as Lou got off the plane he left the airport and took a taxi to the city centre because he really wanted to swim in the clear water and sunbathe on the beautiful beach he had seen earlier. However, when he arrived at the beach he saw that the weather was changing and five minutes later it was raining heavily. Lou ran into a bar and was surprised because someone shouted, “Hi, it’s you again!” 

                  – past tense forms

TIME EXPRESSIONS

Another very important feature in a story are time expressions because they help the reader to put all the events in a logical order and the reader can understand when each event happened.

As soon as Lou got off the plane he left the airport and took a taxi to the city centre because he really wanted to swim in the clear water and sunbathe on the beautiful beach he had seen earlier. However, when he arrived at the beach he saw that the weather was changing and five minutes later it was raining heavily. Immediately , Lou ran into a bar and was surprised because someone shouted, “Hi, it’s you again!” 

                  – time expressions

LINKING WORDS AND DIRECT SPEECH

Last but not least, you can use linking words and direct speech to make your story more attractive.

However, when he arrived at the beach he saw that the weather was changing and five minutes later it was raining heavily. Immediately, Lou ran into a bar and was surprised because someone shouted “Hi, it’s you again!” 

                  – linking words and direct speech

What are linking words?

What is Direct Speech?

Step 4 : Ending

Last but not least, every story needs to get an ending.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a happy ending or a sad ending but make sure that your story ends in some way.

You can give your story a surprising ending or something funny but don’t feel too much pressure to do anything spectacular just make sure that the story ends.

There was a woman from the plane! They started to talk and became very good friends. 

See the full answer…

As the plane flew lower, Lou saw the golden beaches of the island below. The sun was shining brightly, and he said to the woman next to him, “I’m so excited about my holidays!”

However, when he arrived at the beach he saw that the weather was changing and five minutes later it was raining heavily. Lou ran into a bar and was surprised because someone shouted, “Hi, it’s you again!”

There was a woman from the plane! They started to talk and became very good friends.

Practice Tests Online

B1 preliminary (pet) story: writing examples.

Below are some examples of writing (B1 story examples are below)

Writing B1 Story Example 1

Write your story.

Student’s  Answer:

Mark wanted to visit a friend , so he got on a bus. His friend’s name was Angelo. Mark wanted to arrive quickly because he had to give Angelo an important letter from a girl.

Mark sat down and opened the window. Suddenly there was a strong wind and the letter flew out. Mark quickly got off the bus. He ran after the letter, but then he had to stop at a traffic light. Where was the letter? He decided to run along the street again. He ran and ran and then he saw the letter, still flying in the wind. Then a young man caught it in his hand. Mark realized that the young man was Angelo and that he was in front of Angelo’s house!

Examiner comments:

This is a good story and it is well organized:

• it shows a good range of tenses/grammar / linking words: had to give/sat down/got off/ran/ but/decided to/caught it/realized
• it shows good use of vocabulary: important/strong wind/traffic light/flying
• it has a good closing sentence: Mark realized that the young man was Angelo and that he was in front of Angelo’s house!

Submit your story for evaluation!

Writing b1 story example 2.

Tom was watching TV at home when he heard a noise upstairs. He turned off the TV and was very quiet for a few seconds. Then he heard the noise again. At first, he thought it could be the cat, but then he remembered that the cat was outside. He was very frightened, so his legs started to shake.

He went upstairs very slowly. He suddenly saw a big shadow on the wall. This strange shadow had three legs! He thought there was a monster in the bedroom. He walked slowly into the room and he saw his grandfather. He was dancing, using his walking- stick and a walkman!

Tom laughed and was very happy that there was no monster!

• it shows a good range of tenses/ grammar/ linking words: turned off/ At first he thought/could be/but/so/walked/saw/there was
• it shows good use of vocabulary: walking- stick/walkman/remembered/frightened/shadow/ grandfather/laughed
• it has a good closing sentence: T om laughed and was very happy that there was no monster!

Writing B1 Story Example 3

When Jenny looked out of the window, she couldn’t believe her eyes. There was an elephant walking down the street! Jenny closed her eyes and opened them again. She thought she must be dreaming.

The elephant was walking very slowly and was quite relaxed. It stopped at an apple tree and started to eat the fruit. Then, Jenny saw two men running towards the elephant. One of the men was dressed as a clown.

Jenny realised that they had come from the circus that had just arrived in town the day before. The elephant must have escaped.

It was the strangest thing she had ever seen in her life.

Writing B1 Story Example 4

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. My boss was sitting at his desk and he looked very serious.

I was very nervous because I did not know why he wanted to see me.  He told me to sit down and then he said, “Don’t look worried, I just want to ask you something.” “Do you enjoy working here?” he asked. “Yes, I like it very much,” I replied.“I can see that everyone likes you and you are very good at your job. I would like you to be the new manager.”

I was so surprised!

Writing B1 Story Example 5

It started to rain heavily. I knew I was lost, and I didn’t have a coat or umbrella.

It was dark in the forest and I was scared. I didn’t know where I was going. Suddenly, I saw a small cottage in the forest. I  walked towards it but I was too shy to knock on the door. “Are you lost?” an old lady said to me. I turned around and a kind old lady was smiling at me. “Don’t worry everyone gets lost here. My son will drive you to the town.”

I was very happy that I was safe at last.

B1 Preliminary (PET) Story: Writing Topics

B1 (pet) story writing topic 1, b1 (pet) story writing topic 2, b1 (pet) story writing topic 3, b1 preliminary (pet) story: tips.

• Write a well-organized and visual story for the reader. One of the things Cambridge English examiners pay attention to is the organization of content, so be careful not to write an incoherent story. Also, be sure to separate sentences with periods and commas , and don’t write sentences that are too long.
• Don’t write everything at once and then move on. When you’ve finished your story, r eview it. Look for possible errors. Look for ways to improve it, maybe adding adjectives here and there. You can save a lot of points just by reviewing what you wrote.
• Practice and experiment at home , but stick to the practised pattern in the exam. Homework is the best chance to get creative and experiment with stories. On the other hand, when you’re taking an exam, don’t risk trying new words or phrases because you could make a terrible mistake. So stay safe in the exam and stick with what you already know works.

B1 Preliminary (PET) Story: Writing Checklist

After writing your story, you can check it yourself using the writing checklist below.

• Does the story start with the given sentence?
• Is the content of the story related to the starting sentence?
• Is the story about 100 words?

Communicative Achievement

• Does the text use the conventions of a story (use of narrative tenses, a clear beginning, middle and end, use of direct speech)?
• Does it follow the patterns provided in the opening sentence (use of third person, for example)?

Organisation

• Does the text use paragraphs appropriately to organise ideas?
• Does the text use other organisational features of a story (a clear beginning, middle and end, language for sequencing)?
• Are the ideas presented in a logical order? Is the text easy to follow?
• Does the text use a variety of linking words or cohesive devices? (such as although, and, but, because, in the end, etc., and referencing language)?
• Is punctuation used correctly?
• Does the text use a range of vocabulary?
• Does the text use a range of simple grammar accurately (such as basic tenses and simple clauses)?
• Does it use some complex grammatical structures (such as relative clauses, passives, modal forms and tense contrasts)?
• Is the spelling accurate enough for the meaning to be clear?

B1 Preliminary (PET) Story: Useful Phrases & Expressions 

Beginning a story:

It all began… When I first… At the beginning… It was a hot/cold summer/winter day. Once upon a time One day At the beginning When it al started

Creating suspense:

Suddenly All of a sudden Without warning Just at that moment Unexpectedly Out of the blue Out of nowhere Right away Straight away

Finishing your story

In the end Finally When it was all over Eventually After everything that happened Luckily After all of that After everything that had happened Once and for all At the end of the day

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