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How to Write a Narrative

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Instructions

PART I - Correspondence establishes a time line: Gather together whatever records of communication you have from the scammer. Putting correspondence in order by date will help jog your memory and it will establish a time line.

· Emails from the scammer: Create a folder in your email account titled

‘Scammer’ and move all the emails from the scammer into that folder.

· Chats: If you have a record of chats, even a partial record, it will help you with the sequence of events. 

· Telephone calls: It’s easy to look at your telephone bill for a record of calls you made, but if you used a land line you won’t have a record of incoming calls; cell phone bills record both incoming and outgoing calls.  Still, you can call your phone company who may be able to help you determine when calls came in to your land line from out of state or out of country.

· Documents: Scammers send documents as attachments to emails and occasionally by fax. Put whatever documents you received, including employment contracts, in order by date received.

PART II - Now that you have your email, chats, and other references in order by date, it’s time to start the first draft of your list of events:

a. The draft works best when written on yellow lined paper.

b. Refer to the items you gathered together in PART I to establish your time line.

c. Leave yourself plenty of room between each memory of an event.

d. As you remember events you can jot down memos in the margin, under an event, draw arrows, put in question marks, drop in odds and ends that come to mind, etc. Don’t worry – no one is going to see your draft unless you choose to share it.

Think of it as a worksheet but try to be neat and tidy for your own sake because organized notes will help you think more clearly.

PART III - Time to list your sequence of events.

a. Start with the date, your name, address, and contact information

b. Number each event starting with 1.

c. Date each event.

d. Leave a double space between events