How to Tell a Story

If someone is starting out and they're trying to focus on the story, but then they keep kind of running into like, well, how do I tell that story? Are there any just sort of like foundational techniques that a watercolorist should work toward having just sort of as a baseline starting point? You will just try to match what you your reference or what is in front of you. And it's the same way, like, if you give a car key and say, hey,  it's a full tank of gas, go wherever you want to go.