Narrative Writing

Narratives are stories. Narratives are plots. They are essays that tell a story — hopefully in an interesting way — that also convey themes.

Here is a short reference guide on how to write the narrative essay.
1. Decide on a topic
2. Discuss the topic with your teacher and peers either in class or in a group discussion or private tutorial
3. Brainstorm several different ways the narrative can go
4. Start writing
5. Do not stop writing. Let your writing flow onward in a stream of consciousness type of way.
6. Reread the essay.
7. Edit for grammar and the technical rules of writing.
8. Let someone else edit/read over your essay for content and grammar.

Before you begin writing your narrative essay, it helps to brainstorm ideas for where you want your narrative to go. Because you are able to invent plot, you can write anything your imagination invents. As a result, you will want it to appear coherent and plausible. Many narrative writers use diagrams to begin. Start with the main idea (person, subject, object), and circle it. Then, write lines from the circle for descriptive words for that one main idea. Let each spoke continue outward farther and farther, until you have a spider-looking diagram with many thoughts. You can pick any of those for your narrative and follow it.