How Should I Think About Every Question in Stori?

Think of every prompt as a doorway back into a specific moment — not a request for a summary. The goal is to get the person answering to remember out loud, not to explain or generalize. Abstract questions get clichés. Specific questions get stories.

The formula you want (use this everywhere)

Every prompt should push 3 things:

1. Scene → "Where are you?"
2. Emotion → "What did it feel like?"
3. Meaning → "Why does it matter?"

When all 3 are present → you get real stories, not summaries.

How to apply it

Lead with scene, always. Put the person in a room, a car, a hospital hallway, a kitchen. Once they're standing inside the memory, emotion shows up on its own — the body remembers. Then, and only then, ask about meaning: why does this moment still live in you? What did it change?

Skipping scene and jumping to meaning is the single most common mistake. It asks the brain to reach a conclusion before it has re-entered the memory, and the answer will be a cliché every time.

For the longer version of why this works, read the full Stori prompt philosophy.