Narrative writing tells a story. In essays the narrative writing could also be considered reflection or an exploration of the author's values told as a story. The author may remember his or her past, or a memorable person or event from that past, or even observe the present.
When you're writing a narrative essay, loosen up. After all, you're basically just telling a story to someone, something your probably do every day in casual conversation. Use first person and talk it through first. You might even want to either tape record your story as if you were telling it to someone for the first time or actually tell it to a friend.
Once you get the basic story down, then you can begin turning it into an essay. If you feel that you lack life experience, then you may choose to write about someone else or write about an observation you've made about a recent event. You could write about your children, your parents, or your favorite sport or hobby. The important aspect to remember is that you should have a story. In a successful narrative essay, the author usually makes a point.
Features
1. The story should have an introduction that clearly indicates what kind of narrative essay it is (an event or recurring activity, a personal experience, or an observation), and it should have a conclusion that makes a point.
2. The essay should include anecdotes. The author should describe the person, the scene, or the event in some detail. It's okay to include dialogue as long as you know how to punctuate it correctly and as long as you avoid using too much.
3. The occasion or person described must be suggestive in that your description and thoughts lead the reader to reflect on the human experience. For instance, I read an excellent student essay that told the story of a young woman forced to shoot several wolves that were attacking her cattle. She told her story and included the inner struggle she faced as she made the choice of saving her cattle or saving the wolves. She shot the wolves, but learned that whatever her choice had been, she would not have been comfortable with it. One of life's lessons is that sometimes there is no right choice, and that was the point of the essay.
4. The point of view in narrative essays is usually first person. The use of "I" invites your readers into an intimate discussion.
5. The writing in your essay should be lively and show some style. Try to describe ideas and events in new and different ways. Avoid using cliches. Again, get the basic story down, get it organized, and in your final editing process, work on word choice.
"Don't tell us that the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream."
-Samuel Clemens
Purpose of a Narrative Essay
A narrative essay is a story written about a personal experience. Writing a narrative essay provides an opportunity to get to know and understand yourself better. One of the best ways to reveal who you are is to write about how you became aware of something, gained a new way of seeing the world, a new insight. While such awareness can occur for apparently unexplainable reasons, it most often happens when you encounter new ideas or have experiences that change you in some way. During the process of writing a narrative, you will learn ways to articulate personal experience to inform and entertain others. Narratives provide human interest, spark our curiosity, and draw us close to the storyteller. In addition, narratives can do the following:
--Create a sense of shared history, linking people together.
--Provide entertainment. Most people enjoy a thrilling movie or an intriguing book.
--Provide psychological healing. Reading or listening to the narrative of someone who faced a life crisis similar to one you are experiencing can help you through the crisis. They can also help the writer deal with the crisis.
--Provide insight. Narratives can help you discover values, explore options, and examine motives.
Characteristics of the Narrative
Narrative essays describe specific experiences that changed how you felt, thought, or acted. The form of a narrative is similar to a story in that it describes how your character is feeling by "showing" through his/her actions, rather than by coming right out and "telling" your readers. However, a good narrative isn't just an entertaining story, but has a point to make, a purpose to convey. In writing a narrative essay, your purpose is not to merely tell an interesting story but to show your readers the importance and influence the experience has had on you. This experience may be used as a springboard for reflection.
A good narrative:
--Involves readers in the story.
It is much more interesting to actually recreate an incident for readers than to simply tell about it.
--Relates events in sequence.
The creation of specific scenes set at actual times and in actual places. Show, don't tell. Recreate an event by setting it in a specific time and space.
--Includes detailed observations of people, places, and events.
Do you recall sights, sounds, smells, tactile feelings, and tastes? Use actual or re-created dialogue? Give actual names of people and places.
--Presents important changes, contrasts, or conflicts and creates tension.
Do you grow from change? Is there a conflict between characters? Is there a contrast between the past and present?
--Is told from a point of view--usually the author's point of view.
--Focuses on connection between past events, people, or places and the present.
How relevant is the event today? How relevant will it be in your future?
--Makes a point, communicate a main idea or dominant impression.
Your details, specific scenes, accounts of changes or conflicts, and connections between past and present should point to a single main idea or dominant impression for your paper as a whole. While not stating a flat "moral" of the story, the importance of your memory must be clear to your reader.
Planning the Narrative Essay
To plan a narrative, your job is:
--First, select and incident worthy of writing about.
--Second, find relevance in that incident (writers might ask themselves what about the incident provided new insights or awareness).
--Finally, dredge up details which will make the incident real for readers.
Good stories occur everywhere and can be told about anything. They are as likely to occur in your own neighborhood as in some exotic locale. Potential stories happen daily; what makes potential stories actual stories is putting them into language, recounting them, orally or in writing. Good stories are entertaining, informative, lively, and believable; they will mean something to those who write them as well as to those who read them. Subjects for good essays have no limits. You already have a lifetime of experiences from which to choose, and each experience is a potential story to help and explain who you are, what you believe, and how you act today. When beginning, you might ask yourself:
--Did you ever have a long-held belief or assumption shattered? Can you trace the change to one event or a series of events?
--Is there a particular experience that you observed that has had a profound influence on your life?
--Is there a person who has greatly influenced you?
--Is there a decision that you had to make, or a challenge or an obstacle that you faced?
--Was there ever a moment in your life when you decided to reform, to adopt a whole new outlook?
--How would you characterize your attempt? (Successful? Unsuccessful? Laughable? Painful?)
Here are some subject suggestions:
Winning and Losing
Winning something-a race, a contest, a lottery-can be a good subject, since it features you in a unique position and allows you to explore or celebrate a special talent. The truth is that in most parts of life, there are more losers than winners. While one team wins a championship, dozens do not. So there is a large, empathetic audience out there who will understand and identify with a narrative about losing. Although more common than winning, losing is less often explored in writing because it is more painful to recall. Therefore, they are fresher, deeper, more original stories to tell about losing.
Milestones
Perhaps the most interesting but also the most difficult experience to write about is one the you already recognize as a turning point in your life, whether it's winning a sports championship, being a camp counselor, or surviving a five day solo camping trip in mid-winter. Writers who explore such topics in writing often come to a better understanding of them. Also, their very significance challenges the writers to make them equally significant for an audience that did not experience them. When you write about milestones, pay attention to the physical details that will both advance your story and make it come alive for readers.
Daily Life
Commonplace experiences make fertile subjects for personal narratives. You might describe practicing, rather than winning the big competition, or cleaning up after, rather than attending the prom. If you are accurate, honest, and observant in exploring a subject from which readers expect little, you are apt to pleasantly surprise them and draw them into your essay. Work experiences are especially fruitful subjects, since you may know inside details and routines of restaurants and retail shops that the rest of us can only guess.
Writing the Narrative Essay
A few things to remember when writing a narrative essay:
--Narratives are generally written in the first person, that is, using I. However, third person (he, she, or it.) can also be used.
--Narratives rely on concrete, sensory details to convey their point. These details should create a unified, forceful effect, a dominant impression.
--Narratives, as stories, should include these story conventions: a plot, including setting and characters, a climax, and an ending.
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