• Turn a bit of your own family history into a story. This can even be an event in your own life, as long as it’s more than five years ago.

These are not true, or probably not true:

• The ancient Greeks probably did conquer Troy but not with a wooden horse packed with warriors. Make up your own story of what may have happened.

• The explorer Ponce de León didn’t really search for a fountain of youth in Florida in the sixteenth century. Make up your own story about what he was actually looking for.

• Napoleon Bonaparte wasn’t really extremely short; he was of average height for his time. The confusion arose from differences in measurement systems. Write a story about how history has gotten his height so wrong. Who was responsible?