NARRATIVE WRITING

NARRATIVE WRITING
Purpose
The purpose of a narrative is to entertain, and to gain and hold a reader’s interest.
Narrative essays are stories that are written around events and the people affected by
them. Narratives sequence characters in time and place. Through the sequencing, the
stories set up one, or more, problems, which must eventually be resolved.

Types of Narrative
There are many types of narrative essays. They can be imaginary, factual or a combination
of both. They may include genres such as fairy stories, mysteries, science ction,
romances, horror stories, adventure stories, myths and legends, historical narratives,
ballads, or personal experience.

Features
Characters have de ned personalities or identities.
Dialogue and actions are often included and this helps to give us clues about the
characters.
Use of strong descriptive language is used to create images in the reader’s mind and
enhance the story.

Structure

CLIMAX:
Everything comes to a head -
tension/excitement

RISING ACTION: FALLING ACTION:

Several small events build up Tension decreases

An event or person starts

the action

RESOLUTION:
Everything is solved

EXPOSITION: FREYTAG'S PYRAMID

Introduce characters & setting

Narrative notes Page 1 of 5 BOT

© Box of TriCks 2024
fi
fi
 In a traditional narrative the focus of the text is on a series of actions:

• Exposition: (introduction) in which the characters, setting and time of the story are
established. The tone of the story is created while presenting the characters. It
usually answers who? when? where? e.g. One dark, gloomy night, Mr Gordon went out
hunting in the forest.

• Foreshadowing: This is not always included, but contains hints or clues that suggest
to the reader what will happen later in the story. It creates mystery.

• Complication or problem: The complication usually involves the main character(s).

This could also be the weather or an animal.

• Conflict: This could be between human and human, human and nature, human and
self, human and society.

• Rising Action: The series of important events that come from the conflict; it begins
with the inciting force, and ends with the climax.

• Climax: The turning point of the story; when the opposing forces meet; the point of
highest emotion, suspense or drama.

• Falling Action: The events after the climax that wind down and close the story. The
tension is reduced here.

• Resolution: There needs to be a resolution of the complication. It may be resolved for

better or worse, happily or unhappily. Sometimes there are a number of complications
that have to be resolved. These add and sustain interest and suspense for the reader.
The last actions that take place in the story

PLANNING:

Plan an essay, focusing on:

• Plot: What is going to happen?

• Setting: Where will the story take place (place and era)? When will the story take
place? Will the weather contribute to the setting?
• Characterisation: Who are the main characters? What do they look like? How do they
behave? How do they speak?
• Structure: How will the story begin? What will be the problem? How is the problem
going to be resolved?

LANGUAGE: Checklist

• Action verbs: Action verbs provide interest to the writing. For example, instead of ‘The
old woman walked down the path’, try ‘The old woman staggered down path’. Instead
of ‘She laughed’, try ‘She cackled’.
• Written in the rst person (I, we) or the third person (he, she, they).
• Usually past tense. Watch out for tense switches!
• Connectives, linking words to do with time (the next day, after, in the meantime).
• Speci c nouns: Strong nouns have more speci c meanings, e.g. Milkwood as
opposed to tree, or red Ferrari as opposed to car.

© Box of TriCks 2024

Narrative notes Page 2 of 5 BOT
fi
fi
fi
 • Active nouns: Make nouns actually do something, e.g. ‘It was raining’ could become
‘Rain splashed down’ or 'There was a large cabinet in the lounge’ could become ‘A
large cabinet seemed to ll the lounge’.
• Careful use of adjectives and adverbs: Writing needs careful choice of adjectives and
adverbs to bring it alive; qualify (describe with adverbs) the action and provide
description and information for the reader.
• Use of the senses: Where appropriate, the senses can be used to describe and develop
the experiences, setting and character:
What does it smell like?
What can be heard?
What can be seen?
What does it taste like?
What does it feel (texture) like?

• Imagery
Simile: A direct comparison, using like or as or as though, e.g. ‘The sea was as blue
as the sky’ or ‘The wind wrapped me up like a cloak.’
Metaphor: An indirect or hidden comparison, e.g. ‘She has a heart of stone’ or
‘He is a stubborn mule’ or ‘The man barked out the instructions.’
Onomatopoeia: A suggestion of sound through words, e.g. crackle, splat, ooze,
squish, boom, e.g. The tyres whirr on the road. The pitter-patter of soft rain. The
mud oozed and squished through my toes.
Personi cation: Giving non-living things (inanimate) living characteristics, e.g.
The steel beam clenched its muscles. Clouds limped across the sky. The pebbles
on the path were grey with grief.
Rhetorical Questions: Often the author asks the audience questions, knowing of
course there will be no direct answer. This is a way of involving the reader in the
story at the outset, e.g. Have you ever built a tree house?

• Variety in sentence beginnings. There are a several ways to do this e.g.

Participles: “Jumping with joy, I ran home to tell mum my good news.”
Adverbs: “Silently, the cat crept toward the bird.”
Adjectives: “Brilliant sunlight shone through the window.”
Nouns: “Thunder claps lled the air.”
Adverbial Phrases: “Along the street walked the girl, as if she had not a care in
the world.”
Conversations/Dialogue: these may be used as an opener. This may be done
through a series of short or one-word sentences or as one long complex
sentence.

• Show, don’t Tell: Help the reader to visualise the places and characters through the
choice of strong words that appeal to all the senses.

Adapted from:
https://ncowie.wordpress.com/2008/02/10/features-of-narrative-writing/

Narrative notes Page 3 of 5 BOT

© Box of TriCks 2024
fi
fi
fi
 NARRATIVE ESSAY EXAMPLE
EXTRACT
Source: ESCAPED by C.T. Platt via Booksie

The rain was falling heavily. It was like driving through a thick curtain of water. He eased off the
accelerator a little. Had to be careful driving on wild nights like these. The last thing you’d want is
to have an accident or breakdown. You just want to be at home on these stormy nights. The
‘thwack-thwack’ of the windscreen wipers was hypnotic. He stared out into the glow of the
headlights. The rain sounded like white noise interference as it battered the car. He was reminded
of the opening scenes of various Hitchcock lms.

Through the wash of the rain he spotted a gure at the side of the road. The person wore a green
parka and had his thumb jerked out. Why on Earth would anyone be hitchhiking tonight? Surely
you would just stay put until the morning. They must have been in a rush to get wherever they
were going. He signalled down and pulled over. The hitchhiker climbed in. He shut the door
quickly, glad to be out of the rain. He pulled his hood back and sighed. He had to be in his mid-
twenties, he had wild red hair and a thick beard.

‘Awful night, eh?’ said the driver. The hitchhiker held his gaze for a long moment.
‘Yes. Yes it is.’
The driver pulled out and continued through the storm. The hitcher craned his head around and
gazed into the blackness behind them. The driver looked at him.
‘You okay?’
The hitcher simply nodded. They drove on in silence for a while. The BBC radio phone-in blared
from the car’s speakers, lling in for conversation. They listened to the radio and their thoughts as
they moved on.

‘Where are you headed?’ asked the driver.

‘North.’ The hitcher pointed in the direction he spoke of.
‘Are you traveling to visit friends?’
‘Hmph.’
The driver couldn’t tell if that was a yes or no. He adjusted his tie nervously. The hitcher stared at
him in his suit and tie. The hitcher seemed scruffy in comparison, dressed in his weathered green
parka and a Pink Floyd T-shirt.

‘Do you work around here,’ asked the hitcher.

‘Yes,’ said the driver. ‘I was stuck late at the of ce. You know how it is.
‘No. Not really.’
Again, they drifted into silence.
The talk radio show carried on as they drove through the wind and rain. The hitcher shifted in his
seat and stared out the windscreen.
‘No music?’ the hitcher asked.
‘What?’
‘Is there no music we could listen to?’
‘I-I’m not really a music fan. I like the talk radio shows.’
The hitcher’s eyes glazed over for a moment. Then he spoke.
‘I like listening to music. It calms me down.’
The driver said nothing. Several miles later, there was a news bulletin on the radio. The
reporter tried to remain professional as she read the announcement.
© Box of TriCks 2024
Narrative notes Page 4 of 5 BOT
fi
fi
fi
fi
‘We are getting reports that a man has escaped from a Manchester psychiatric institution. The
man is said to be psychopathic and is said to have a history of murder.’

The hitcher jabbed a nger at the button on the radio panel. Tinny pop music blared out from the
speakers. The driver stared at his passenger, his question unasked.
‘I hate the news,’ said the hitcher. ‘It’s so depressing, it brings me down. There is never any good
news, is there?’
The driver did not speak.
‘Don’t worry, I’m probably not the killer,’ the hitcher said, dgeting with his coat.
‘No?’ said the driver. ‘I mean, no, of course you’re not.’

© Box of TriCks 2024

Narrative notes Page 5 of 5 BOT
fi
fi