Lily writes a narrative essay with the hope of developing writing skills. But she is terrified and getting goosebumps while writing. She used her complete knowledge in writing, and after that, she went to the kitchen to make a cake. She comes and revises it later. She comes back and starts revising, but she feels it’s not up to the mark.
It’s too dull. She thinks about how to write a narrative essay impressively. How can I impress the audience with the story? Are you also one of those students who are assigned to write a narrative essay in your college or high school? Remember, it is a good opportunity to improve your storytelling skills. For most students writing a narrative essay is so much fun. In this blog post, we will be
discussing “how to write a narrative essay.”What is a narrative essay?
A narrative essay is an essay that tells us a story. These are commonly assigned in high schools and colleges. It also contains a plot, characters, conflicts, etc., like stories. Most of the time, students are told to write essay for me for their personal experiences in the form of a story. It is done so that class or readers can connect with it.
Since everyone likes stories, so these essays got so many readers. Hence it is very important to work on its content and format. Writing a narrative essay can be fun if you do it properly. Movies and some YouTube videos are also narrative essays, but they are in the form of videos.
Apart from this, the narrative essay is one of the types of essays assigned to the students as an academic writing paper. That is why its quality depends on the technique that you have used to write it. There is a specific structure of this essay type, and it is as follows:
- Introduction: It consists of an overview of your narrative essay that allows the readers to understand your story’s motive. Don’t forget to include a thesis statement of 3-4 lines so that it can easily direct your essay in a proper direction to the readers.
- Main Body: Try to gather all the relevant facts, details, and supporting arguments that can support your story. Logically write each idea and place them in a sequence. If your main body of the essay is 3-4 paragraphs, then go for it. But remember to include a new idea in each paragraph.
- Conclusion/Summary: Here, students have to sum up their ideas that have been included in the main body of the essay. Writing 3-5 lines in it is sufficient to end up your essay writing. Do not put a new idea here as it can lead the readers to misguide about your narrative essay.
Purpose of Narrative Essays
This essay is all about telling stories to the readers. It is their main purpose. As a writer, you have to mention personal experience, but you have to make sure you mention your point clearly so that the reader understands. Explain why your story is worth sharing.
Many students have confusion regarding the persuasive essay and narrative essay. They considered them the same. Are they the same?
No, that’s not right. Let’s compare both of them-
| Points of comparison | Persuasive essay | Narrative essay |
| 1. Objective | To convince with specific arguments | To tell the story |
| 2. Temperament | Sensible | Creative, emotional |
| 3. Writing style | logical, purpose, 3rd person | Compelling, personal, 1st person |
| 4. Example | Should soda be offered in school cafeterias? | Meeting a famous person |
What are the narrative essay examples?
- Meeting a famous person.
- Playground Memory.
- My first job.
- Traveling to the US for the first time.
- Little leader.
- Ultimate cricket match.
- My secret place.
- Living a dream.
- Near-death experience.
- Best vacation with my family.
How to write a narrative essay: Step by step guide
If you are searching for how to write a narrative essay then you should know about some important steps for writing a narrative essay that are as follows-
Choose a good topic
It is the first step toward writing a narrative essay. At first, you should have a good topic to write about. Choose your topic in such a way that you can convert it into a story of yours. A good topic is one which connects with people’s mind immediately. Always select such topics which are relatable to the majority of your readers.
Choose your story
After choosing a topic, you need to choose a good story. The story must be related to the topic or theme you choose. It should not hurt anyone’s sentiments, and it must relate to the reader so that they can enjoy the narrative essay more. The story must be realistic, it should not contain any exaggeration. More realistic the story is, the more relatability people will feel.
Do the research if required
Writing a narrative essay does not need much research. It is because it is related to your personal experiences. But some topics are there, which require research to add extra information to the content. Research is must, if you want to represent the story properly you need to add thorough information. Research helps you to have in depth knowledge about the topic.
Write the draft
Now outline the plot before you begin. Make a list of all the incidents systematically so that you will not miss any point during writing. This will enable you to know where the story starts, its main incidents and where it ends. Remember you are writing an essay, not a novel. So, your story must be fairly contained and concise. While making the draft, make sure your story is in a flow so that it does not seem like in different pieces. Your story must convey as a whole and with full connectivity.
Describe important characters
While writing a narrative essay, you must describe all the important characters. Describe them about how they look, what they wear, age, height and also mention some interesting facts about them.
For example: “My grandmother was sharpening her pencil with a razor blade and unpacking her watercolor paint and paintbrushes from their special travel box. She was wearing a loose green cardigan with her floral printed skirts. Her white hairs were combed neatly and tied in a bun”.
Find the antagonist of the story
It is very important to find the antagonist of the story and the conflict. Without this, it will be boring. In most of the stories, the protagonist is the writer itself. The antagonist is always the person who stops the protagonist from achieving what he wants. This counter character will bring people’s interests into your story. Without any antagonist your story will be bland and people will find it boring.
Describe the scene
You also need to describe the scene in detail. It is important because by this you can make readers imagine the scene properly. The most common mistake every narrative essay writer makes is not explaining the scene in detail. Detailing enhances the imagination and the essay is not a success until there is any imagination involved.
Omit unnecessary details
You do not need to provide any unnecessary details. Omit those details or topics that are not relevant to your story. Keep the story within the storyline. Crossing the storyline makes your narrative essay confusing and boring. Exclude all the unnecessary details and focus on main details.
Write events chronologically
It is very important to write all the events in a chronological manner. If not done so, your story will not make sense. So what happened first must be written first.
Revise your essay
After making the first draft of your narrative essay:
- Revise it.
- Check whether the theme, title, and story are related.
- Proceed with editing and proofreading.
Make the final draft
Now make the final draft of your narrative essay. After all the lateration, make the final draft to do the final touch up.
Quick Links
- Tips For Structuring An Essay
- How To Write An Essay
- Fruitful Ways Of How To Write An Autobiography Essay
Things to remember while writing a narrative essay: Do’s and Don’ts
- Keep your essay concise. Do not over-explain unnecessary things, people and plots.
- Always make an outline of events before you start writing
- Do not describe each and every character in detail. For non-important characters, a brief description is enough.
- Add vibrant details. You can add some details just to spice up the story. But try to stay as true as possible.
- Always stay consistent. Narrative essays are always written in the past tense. Do not mix up tenses.
- These are generally written in the first person, i.e. making use of “I” statements.
- Take care of your grammar. Do not make any grammatical mistakes.
- Always highlight the important moments of your story. This enables the readers to remember those points.
- Get assistance if you are not able to do it well.
Additional tips for writing an effective narrative essay
- The words and sentences of your narrative essay must be clear. Use different colors to highlight the main points.
- Factors in your essay must be supported with relevant details and mention the references for each point.
- If there is a need to write the conflict, put it without hesitation as it makes your narrative essay more realistic.
- Flash-forwards and flashbacks can help you to direct the narrative story to an exciting ending.
- Besides the first person, you can use the third person perspective also.
Bonus point: How to choose the narrative essay topics?
Following these points while selecting the narrative essay topics-
1. Understand the assignment-
It is best to go through them carefully to understand what your professor expected from you. Also, see if there is any question you require to answer. Sometimes students interpret wrong meanings which the teacher asks them to do. Whole assignment is wrong now. To remove this error you must properly understand the assignment.
2. Brainstorming session–
Do brainstorm and find out possible story ideas for your narrative essay. Firstly, add the ideas freely. After that, choose whether you want to write fiction or a personal narrative. Once you have got the appropriate topic, then choose the one that is useful for you.
3. Narrow down your ideas–
Check the list of your ideas and think about which fits your assignment. Narrow down the list of your ideas and come to the appropriate one.
Wrap up!
We have discussed all the important aspects of writing a narrative essay. But still, if you find any difficulty in writing it, feel free to seek our help.
Here at CallTutors, we have a team of experts who can help you in completing your assignment before the deadline, and that too at very reasonable prices. We are 24*7 available to help you out. Submit your requirements now.
FAQs Related To How To Write A Narrative Essay
What’s the difference between a narrative essay and a descriptive essay?
A narrative essay is meant to narrate a whole story, whereas a descriptive essay communicates a description of a specific object, place, or concept.
How do I write a narrative essay plan?
Step 1. Brainstorm your ideas and organizing them systematically
Step 2. Research your topic
Step 3. Write an engaging Thesis Statement
Step 4. Write the Introduction, Main Body, and the conclusion of the essay
Step 5. Proofread the narrative essay once or twice
Step 6. Make necessary changes if required.
How many paragraphs are in a narrative essay?
Students require to write a narrative essay as per the norms of academic writing. Try to use a usual 5-paragraph narrative essay format that starts from writing an introduction. Don’t neglect to include a thesis statement, a hook, and a description of the topic.
How long does it take to write an essay?
When it comes to estimating the time a narrative essay will need to write even an introductory essay, students have to examine research time and various other factors. Almost a 1200 word paper might take from four to five hours to complete the narrative essay.
Is a plagiarism-free narrative essay helps in scoring good grades?
Yes, it is. As any of the tutors does not support plagiarism narrative essays; therefore, it becomes necessary to write a plagiarism-free essay. This helps the students to score good grades in their narrative essay writing papers.