Use lots of sensory detail. How did things look, sound, feel?

Stick to one event, circumstance, surprise, or experiment. Focus on the drama, conflict, the unusual, or unexpected. You can have a beginning, a middle, and an end, or you can start in the middle of the action.

If you weren't alone when your story took place, who was with you? Try to capture the essence of the friends (or foes) who may have shared your experience. Were they wild, shy, beautiful, zany, scheming, or perhaps misunderstood youths with hearts of gold? Were they your teenage "partners in crime," or did you somehow get thrown together for one fateful incident?

Why has this memory stayed with you over the years with such vivid details? What emotions does it evoke? Did you learn something about yourself? Weave these emotions into your story.

Let your words flow. It's much better to "overwrite," than to be overly cautious with words. "overwritten" stories often turn into the best writing.