Read this blog to learn what is narrative academic writing and how to write it. This blog will provide you with all the knowledge you need about academic writing secrets.
A narrative essay is a form of academic writing that is built around a narration of a certain event or situation. It is a short form of a narrative novel. Its main objective is to tell a story that it is both engaging and interesting to the reader. A narrative essay, more than any other type of essay, allows you to be creative as a writer.
Though a narrative essay might seem like a short story, narrative essays focus on personal experience that hint at a lesson to be learned and is therefore non-fiction.
Steps for Writing a Narrative Essay
- Figure out the plot. You should never start writing your narrative essay before you come up with the plot for it.
- Make a sketch of events you plan to show in chronological order.
- When starting your introduction, begin by setting the scene for the situation you will narrate about. Here it is best to go into detail and make the imagery as vivid and colourful as possible so that readers will be able to clearly picture the setting in their minds.
- As you go into the main body paragraphs, narrate the story. Try to develop the plot gradually, starting from smaller events or incidents that lead to the main scene.
- Write the main body paragraphs in accordance with the structure you chose when making an outline—either block or point-by-point arrangement.
- Narrate the main scene of your story. Use as many details and emotional descriptions as you can to portray the story in full. Draw the reader into the events by evoking feelings and describing the reactions of the characters of your story.
- End your story. Here you can appeal to the senses, moods, and feelings of your characters, describing the consequences of the narrated events.
- Lay your work aside for some time and then do thorough proofreading.
Narrative Essay Topics
There are endless topics you can choose from for your story. With narrative essays being a creative type of writing, you have a unique opportunity to choose the ideal topic to narrate about. It should be about a concept or event you find interesting—otherwise, it will be difficult to make it intriguing for your readers. Commonly, the story will have a lesson for readers to learn from, which will be hinted at through storytelling.
Your story must be based on what you have experienced personally. This means your personal experiences can be elaborated on or expanded on. It can be narrated in the first or third person.
- Your first day of school.
- Your most exciting day of school
- A field trip that your class took.
- Your favourite summer vacation.
- A trip that included something unexpected or surprising.
- A time that you experienced something spooky.
- A time that you experienced something truly frightening.
- A time that you learned something new.
- The moment when you met someone who changed your life.
- The day that you got your first pet.
Key Points to Consider
- Start your essay by deciding upon the plot.
- If you find it difficult to start your essay, or cannot seem to come up with the story you want to convey, try to approach the process of writing with a “question-and-answer method.” Start asking yourself basic questions about the future story and slowly move on to more detailed questions as you develop the plot. For example, start with “Where did the event happen?” and “Who was involved in the situation?” moving onto “What were the consequences of this event?” and “What were the reactions of people involved?”
- With a narrative essay being a rather informal type of essay writing, keep in mind that even though you are telling a story to your readers, you are not exactly doing it the way you would say it in person. When a narrative essay is too conversational and simplistic, it can hardly be considered a successful one. You need to find a balance between telling a story in an interesting manner while keeping your writing stylistically pleasing.
- Evidence can be supported by a hypothesis. You, as an author, can give an alternative description of events the way they could have happened if some characters acted differently.
- To experiment with your writing style and make your narrative essay more unique, you can use a literary technique called ‘flashback narration.’ You can start your story from a particular point in time (usually an event that is extraordinary and exciting), and then move back to the events that lead to the described situation.
- Try to express yourself creatively and figuratively. Like, instead of saying “a very old man entered the room,” you could say “a grey-haired man with a thick beard creaked open the door—his hands slightly trembling from age, and stepped inside with a heaviness as if he was engrossed in profound thought.”
- With the narrative essay giving you a certain freedom to experiment with words, you can use interesting and unusual word combinations to make your writing more creative. An example of this would be using verbs with inanimate objects or giving animals, plants or natural phenomena certain human qualities.
A narrative essay is essentially a sort of academic writing that is based on the recounting of a specific event or incident. It’s a shortened version of a full-length novel. The author must create a story that is both captivating and interesting to the reader in order to achieve this. A narrative essay, more than any other type of essay, allows you to express yourself as a writer in a unique way.
Despite the fact that a narrative essay looks to be a short book, it is a nonfictional essay that is based on personal experience and suggests a lesson to be learned.
Writing a Narrative Essay: Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Make a list of the plot’s aspects. When writing a narrative essay, you should never start writing it until you’ve come up with a plot.
2. Sketch up a rough outline of the events you want to present in chronological order.
3. Begin your introduction by setting the scene for the situation you’ll be describing. In this scenario, the best way is to go into considerable detail and make the imagery as vivid and colourful as possible so that readers can clearly visualize the setting in their minds.
4. Tell the story in your own terms as you proceed through the main body paragraphs. Make an attempt to develop the story in stages, starting with minor events or incidents that lead up to the main event.
5. Create the main body paragraphs in the manner you choose when developing the outline—either a block or a point-by-point structure.
6. Write a scene summary for the most crucial scene in your story. Include as many facts and emotive descriptions as possible for the most authentic portrayal of the story. To engage the reader in the action of your story, elicit feelings in the reader and depict the reactions of the characters in your story.
7. Put an end to your story. By presenting the consequences of the events that have transpired, you can appeal to your characters’ senses, moods, and feelings in this section.
8. Put your work away for a bit, then go over it with a fine-tooth comb once more.
Essay Topics for Narratives
You can choose from an endless variety of topics for your story. Because narrative essays are a creative writing style, you have the unique opportunity to choose the best theme for your story. If the issue is not one that you are interested in, it will be difficult to make it interesting for your readers. The story will usually have a takeaway lesson for readers, which will be hinted at through the employment of storytelling techniques and characters.
Your story must be based on something you’ve seen or experienced firsthand. This means that you can build on or expand on your own personal experiences in a formal context. Depending on your inclination, it can be recounted in the first or third person.
• Today is your first day of school.
• Today is the most exciting day of the school year for you.
• A field trip in which your class took part.
• Describe your favourite summer vacation to us.
• A trip that had an element or component that was unexpected or startling.
When you came face to face with something supernatural.
• An experience in which you were confronted with a terrible situation.
• An experience in which you learned something new.
• When you first met someone who had a significant impact on your life.
• When you first got your first pet (if you have one).
Important Factors to Think About
1. Before you start writing, decide on the plot of your essay.
2. If you’re having problems starting started on your essay or can’t think of a story to tell, consider using the “question-and-answer method” to approach the writing process. Begin by asking yourself simple questions about the future story, then go to more in-depth questions about the future story as you build the narrative. Begin by asking questions like “Where did the event occur?” and “Who was involved in the situation?” The following questions are, “What were the consequences of this event?” and “What were the reactions of those who were involved?”
3. Keep in mind that, while you are presenting a narrative to your readers, you are not doing so in the same way that you would if you were telling the story in person. 4. In today’s environment, an essay that is extremely conversational and basic is unlikely to be considered an effective narrative essay. You must strike a balance between telling an engaging story and retaining a visually appealing style throughout your work.
4. In some cases, evidence can be backed up by a hypothesis. As an author, you have the option to offer a distinct interpretation of events, such as how things may have played out if certain characters had behaved differently.
5. You can use ‘flashback narration,’ a literary technique, to experiment with your writing style and make your narrative essay more unique. Your story can start at a specific point in time (usually a surprising and dramatic incident), then travel back to the circumstances that lead up to the situation you’re describing in detail.
6. Make an attempt to express oneself creatively and metaphorically. Instead of “a very ancient man entered the room,” say “a grey-haired man with a thick beard creaked open the door—his hands slightly shaking from age—and stepped inside, his steps heavy with the weight of deep thought.”
7. You can utilize unique and unusual word combinations to make your writing more imaginative because the narrative essay allows you to play with language to some extent. The use of verbs with inanimate objects, as well as the imbuing of animals, plants, and natural events with human attributes, are examples of this.
What Should You Do and What Shouldn’t You Do
Do
• Use dialogue in your writing to make it more lively and realistic. Furthermore, direct speech might be handy when you wish to show a quick shift in your characters’ emotions and moods.
• Intersperse descriptive passages between your characters’ dialogue to keep the reader’s interest and provide depth to their information exchanges.
• Present information in chronological order based on the date. To help link events together, use time-related terms like (first, then, after that, later, during, while, and so on).
You’ll need to use your senses and emotions to create the environment for your tale.
• Use vivid literary tactics like metaphors, epithets, distinct parallels, scintillating allegories, and the like in your work.
• Don’t forget to give detailed descriptions of all of the locations, characters, and structures in the story. Make it as simple as possible for your audience to visualize what you’re talking about.
Don’t
• Don’t be afraid to use your creativity to express yourself. It is feasible to create an effective essay if you stay focused on the surreal quality of the events you are describing and sustain your reader’s interest.
Avoid jumping from past to present tense and vice versa throughout the story; instead, keep with one tense throughout.
• Don’t start writing your narrative essay until you’ve settled on your story’s ending. It is critical that the complete story be thought out in advance before beginning to write the story in detail.
• Maintain a consistent order of events; otherwise, the reader’s ability to follow the plot will be severely harmed.
Don’t be afraid to use components of descriptive writing in your narrative essay. Adding vivid details and extensive explanations to your work can only improve its quality.
There are a few basic pitfalls to avoid when writing a narrative essay.
– As you narrate your story, switch between the first and third-person narrative.
Slang phrases in character dialogues or monologues are acceptable artistic techniques (as long as they are congruent with the picture you intend to paint), but they should never be used in ordinary writing. –
When a sentence has too many verbs, the reader’s attention is drawn to the action rather than the broader image being built. Use a moderate amount of verbs in conjunction with adjectives and adverbs to keep your writing balanced.
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