Chapter Eight-How To Master Thematic Apperception Test
In this chapter you will learn in a systematic and detailed manner how to write a story in the Thematic Apperception Test.
Chapter 8: How To Write a Story
(This is Chapter 8. To read Chapter 9, click on the button at the bottom of the page)
In this chapter we will see how the story which we analysed in the previous chapter could have been written in a different and an impressive manner.
Let us first summarise what were the main negative points of the story so that we will be able to learn how to write a story in a correct manner.
1) Rather than selecting one single problem, the candidate mentioned multiple problems like blackboard, chemicals, books, benches and sports teacher.
2) Problem being solved easily with available school funds thereby raising a question about what was the principal doing all this while if funds were already available.
Keeping the above 2 critical negative points in mind, we will need to think about ways to ensure that our story does not end up having the same negative elements.
The first point that comes to mind is that if we will mention that he was a principal of that school since a long time then the next obvious question that will come is why was he not aware of this problem simmering since long. Naturally, the students won’t go on strike immediately. They must have been facing that particular issue since long and only after nobody addressed their problem did they go on strike. The solution to this point is that we can mention about the central character having joined the school only recently and thereby isn’t a person who will sit without doing anything while the students are facing a problem. Even when teaching in my offline class in Nasik, I always emphasise that in nearly 95% of images, the story will require that the encounter between the character and the problem happens for the first time in the character’s life. Hence, mentioning that the principal was
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newly or recently appointed or had recently joined that school will make the story sensible and acceptable.
The second point to understand is that whatever problem you choose as the theme of your story will certainly have a reason, a root cause, that resulted in that problem coming up. If there was a problem of benches then there must have been a reason behind it. If there was a problem of books, there must have been a reason behind it. If there was a problem of sports teacher, there must been a reason behind it. Generally, in a majority of such cases, the root cause is lack of funds.
By bringing in the root cause we get an opportunity to address that root cause and, in the process, we can display the relevant officer like qualities.
So let us start writing our story taking lack of benches as the issue and keeping the above discussed points in mind.
I have always emphasised that candidates should make every effort, as much as possible, to bring the central character and the theme in the first sentence itself. In this particular situation, we can comfortably do that by writing our first sentence in the following manner:
Mr. Raj Verma, 48, recently appointed principal of Rasbihari College, saw students protesting about lack of benches upon reaching college.
In this introductory first sentence of the story, we have introduced the central character and the theme in the very first sentence easily. We have also mentioned that he was newly appointed principal in the school. By doing this we will be able to bypass the problem of that question what was the principal doing until now? which will get asked if we show that he was a principal of that particular school or college since long.
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Now that we have successfully introduced the central character as well as the theme and even bypassed the problem of the question what was the principal doing until now by mentioning that he was recently appointed, we need to start working towards understanding and addressing the root cause. Generally, the root cause in such cases is lack of funds. However, we also need to keep in mind that it must have been a few days since the central character joined the school and so he must have gotten himself to know what are the issues being faced by the students and staff. Upon learning about their problems, he should have immediately started working towards getting their problems addressed.
This should make us ask ourselves, what and how can we write the next part of our story in which it will become clear that the principal had made himself aware of the problem and that he was already working on it. Keeping this in mind, we can frame our second sentence as follows:
He quickly approached and pacified them. He assured them he was aware of the problem and had already started working on addressing the issue of funds.
One of the key qualities of an officer is that whenever there is a problem visible in front of him, he acts quickly without any delay. Hence, the same should get reflected in our story. It is precisely with this purpose in mind that I have mentioned the word quickly in the second sentence of the story here. The word quickly will show swiftness in response here upon seeing the students protesting. This, in turn, will show that in the future too whenever he will see any crisis developing, he will respond swiftly. That will reflect very positively in terms of the psychological evaluation of the candidate.
The next thing which is positive about this sentence is the use of the word pacified. In any situation where people have become aggressive,
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the first logical thing to do is to pacify them. Hence, the use of the word pacified will show good effective intelligence.
The way the central character quickly approached and pacified them will also show initiative and ownership. Those are also very important officer like qualities.
In the third sentence of the story, I have very smartly written about how he helped them realise that he was already aware of the problem and as such, had already started working on it. This will show many good officer-like qualities in the candidate.
The first important officer like quality it will show is good general awareness and a very healthy interest in his surroundings as well as organisation/institution. The very fact that he had only recently joined that college but had already gotten to know about the problem of benches showcases him in a positive light. It shows he was deeply interested in the institution/organisation he was working for.
The next point shows that he was already working on the issue. This shows key officer like qualities like sense of responsibility and initiative. So far, we have been able to write the story in a logical sequence. Now let us see what we should write next.
The next thing we need to understand is that there is some solution which the principal must have already thought of but has not worked out yet whereas the issue warrants a solution on an urgent basis. Hence, it would make sense to write about a solution which the principal was already working on but which no longer seems useful and hence the principal should do something else to get immediate solution to the problem. Keeping this thought in mind we can frame the next 1 or 2 sentences as follows:
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He requested them to go back to class. Upon reaching office he realised waiting for funds from trustees won’t be good. He immediately searched on internet for local philanthropists and sought appointment.
In the fourth sentence of the story, I have used the word requested and as already explained in the previous chapter, it will show very key officer like qualities of courtesy, good behaviour and down to earth nature. Being principal, he could have easily instructed or ordered the students to go back but rather he requested them. This will reflect very positively in front of the board.
In the fifth sentence, I have very smartly showed that he had already requested funds from trustees thereby showing that he was already working on solving the problem of lack of benches. He had already kickstarted the process of arranging the funds from trustees of the school and had requested them for it. By using the word waiting it has got conveyed that he realised this may take lot of time whereas the situation has reached the level of urgency. So, he started thinking of what else can be done and the idea of approaching philanthropists came to his mind. Philanthropist is a term used for a person who is financially very strong and regularly donates money for social causes. Hence, this thought of contacting philanthropists also shows he is an out of the box thinker. All these are very key officer-like qualities.
The use of the word immediately in the fifth sentence shows he acts swiftly upon encountering a problem and even takes ownership. Those are very key officer-like qualities.
The very fact that he immediately checked information on the internet about local philanthropists and even contacted them seeking appointment shows that he is going out of his way for his students and the institution he is working for. He is not sitting idle just because the
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trustees or the management isn’t able to provide funds. This is such a major officer-like quality.
Now that we have written story in proper logical sequence till here leaving no room for any negative quality getting reflected, we can now write about how he arranged money after meeting the local philanthropists and thereby show his problem-solving skill. It will show that he is capable of identifying and addressing the root cause of an issue. In this case the root cause is a lack of funds.
Since, we have brought the story till here in a logical sequence, we can quickly write about his interaction with the philanthropists and how he got the money arranged. We can do so by writing 1 or 2 sentence in the following manner:
He once again calculated the amount needed. Next day he met the philanthropists and convinced them for donation. He then met a local company and in a pleading manner convinced them to supply benches at no profit basis.
I had already mentioned that he took appointment from local philanthropists. It would be a very wise thing to know the exact amount you need for your purpose before you go to meet such people who donate money for social causes. Hence, he calculated the amount needed once again. By writing once again, we have conveyed that he had already calculated it earlier also since he was already working on the problem. Reconfirming it shows his cautiousness and sense of responsibility when it comes to handling important responsibilities.
The fact that he was able to convince them to donate shows he has good communication skills and confidence. Those are key officer-like qualities.
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After that he even met a local company and requested them to supply benches on a non-profit basis. This shows the wanted to keep the cost as low as possible so that maximum benches can be arranged and it can also be ensured that he won’t again run short of funds for any reason regarding this procurement of benches.
The word pleading should not be misunderstood for behaving like a beggar. The word pleading here would denote discussing in a deeply requesting manner explaining needs and urgency. It does not mean begging on your knees. It is precisely in these kinds of situations that choice of words becomes extremely important. Knowledge and understanding of English language help a lot in psychology tests. Candidates should work a lot on improving their English if they really want to succeed in SSB.
Now that we have got the problem solved, we can come to the conclusion and conclude in a simple, short and up to the point manner by writing 1 or 2 sentences in the following manner.
The benches arrived in 3 days. Mr. Verma was relieved to see students happy.
This will be ideal for a simple and short ending to the story.
To see that the structure of the story has been followed, I will write the story in a particular manner below.
Mr. Raj Verma, 48, recently appointed principal of Rasbihari College, saw students protesting about lack of benches upon reaching college.
Theme and central character got introduced in the first sentence. This helped us to start taking steps.
Step 1- He quickly approached and pacified them.
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Step 2-He assured them he was aware of the problem and had already started working on addressing the issue of funds.
Step 3- He requested them to go back to class.
Step 4-Upon reaching office he realised waiting for funds from trustees won’t be good.
Step 5-He immediately searched on internet for local philanthropists and sought appointment.
Step 6- He once again calculated the amount needed.
Step 7- Next day he met the philanthropists and convinced them for donation.
Step 8-He then met a local company and in a pleading manner convinced them to supply benches at no profit basis.
Conclusion-The benches arrived in 3 days. Mr. Verma was relieved to see students happy.
Candidates are required to write the story in one single paragraph. I have broken down the story in steps for ease of learning of the candidates. Candidates should not write story like this in the board. Candidates should write story in one single paragraph like below.
Mr. Raj Verma, 48, recently appointed principal of Rasbihari College, saw students protesting about lack of benches upon reaching college. He quickly approached and pacified them. He assured them he was aware of the problem and had already started working on addressing the issue of funds. He requested them to go back to class. Upon reaching office he realised waiting for funds from trustees won’t be good. He immediately searched on internet for local philanthropists and sought appointment. He once again calculated the amount needed. Next day he met the philanthropists
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and convinced them for donation. He then met a local company and in a pleading manner convinced them to supply benches at no profit basis. The benches arrived in 3 days. Mr. Verma was relieved to see students happy.
The above story is of 130 words. It is a little longer than ideal length but I have deliberately kept it detailed for the ease of learning of the candidates. Ideally an average candidate is able to write a 100-120 words story comfortably in the allotted time. This story too can be condensed to make it around 100-120 words without compromising on the essence of the quality of it in any way by writing in the following manner.
Mr. Verma, 48, recently appointed principal of RS College, saw students protesting about benches upon reaching college. He quickly approached & pacified them. He assured them he was already working on getting funds arranged for the same. He requested them to resume classes. Upon reaching office he realised waiting for management funds won’t be good. He immediately searched & contacted local philanthropists. He reconfirmed required amount and met them next day. After convincing them for donation he met a local company and convinced them to supply benches at no profit basis. The benches arrived in 3 days. Mr. Verma was relieved to see students happy.
The above story is of 106 words. It has been edited in a way which does not affect it’s quality or essence in any way and still allows the same officer like qualities to get confirmed. This is an ideal example to understand how candidates can easily write a story in a crisp and articulate manner without compromising on the it’s essence or quality.
I have carefully identified every word which can be done away with without compromising on the quality or the essence of the story. I have
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then rephrased sentences to ensure that the sequence of steps stays the same and the essence of the steps also gets conveyed. Every candidate who wants to gain mastery at TAT should practice this technique. It will help in developing a style of writing which will help convey the thoughts in mind with least number of words.
The next extremely useful technique you will learn from this style of writing is how to convey information in a condensed manner by embedding the contents of 2 or 3 different sentences into one single sentence. For instance, any candidate who has only recently started working on developing his skills in TAT, would think in a simple manner and thereby even write in a simple and direct manner. Take an example of the third sentence He assured them he was already working on getting funds arranged for the same. If you think and write in a simple manner you may end up writing multiple sentences to convey that the principal told the students that he was already aware of the problem of benches and had requested funds from the management but there was shortage and hence the funds weren’t coming through easily. However, we have nicely expressed the same in a very short and crips manner by writing He assured them he was already working on getting funds arranged for the same. This is yet another technique which helps candidates a lot in TAT.
One more important point this story will help you understand is that by picking the right central character, the candidates save themselves from showing any other character in a negative light. We saw in chapter 5 how the candidate made a student the central character and as such he was left with no option but to show the management or the principal and teachers in a negative light. In the story I have written in this chapter, I have ensured that nobody gets shown in a negative light. This became possible only because the central character was chosen correctly.
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Knowing the method is just half the battle—mastery comes with the right kind of practice. Click Here to read the next chapter in which we will uncover key tips that will sharpen your story-writing skills faster and more effectively.
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