Setting (Beginning)

Do I have a sense of person and place--who is involved, and when and where the story takes place?

Does the beginning end with a sentence that suggests what will change as a result of what has happened (thesis)?

Thesis

Is the subject of my thesis statement the topic of my paper? Does the rest of the thesis statement explain my reason for writing this story (why it is important or valuable to me) or indicate the change that resulted because of what happened?

Story (Middle)

Does the story begin at the moment things begin to change?

Do I keep explaining what changed, trying to reword it over and over again? If so, remove the explanations and replace them with details that illustrate what changed (picture for the reader what has changed).

Do I simply show that one thing happened after another thing (signalled by simple transitions like and, then, first, second, . . . , finally) or do I show the relationships between events (signalled by transitions like as, while, because, since, although, during, as a result)?

Does the story progress smoothly through time with any shifts in time clearly indicated by the appropriate tenses (past perfect, present perfect). If the story begins using past tense verbs and then suddenly switches to present tense verbs, change the present tense verbs to past tense (unless the time expressed should actually be the present--the time of writing).

Conclusion (End)

Does my ending satisfy? Is the change that has occurred clearly identified and are consequences evident?