Personal Narrative

-Uses plot, setting, characters,

dialogue, personal thought, and
showing, not telling to zoom in on a
short amount of time or significant
event that reveals an important
message, lesson, theme, or
observation.

INTRODUCTION

The introduction to your

memoir should grab the
readers attention by using a
narrative lead

The story starts in the

middle of the action.

Setting, characters, and

conflict should be revealed
in the beginning.

Introduction to Narrative Leads

The lead should describe

an interesting action or
thought.
The lead establishes the
direction your writing will
take.
A good lead grabs the
readers attention and
refuses to let go.

Narrative Leads
Action: A main character is doing something interesting.
Dialogue: A character or characters are speaking.
Reaction: A character is thinking.
Shock Statement: An alarming detail that will grab any readers attention
Implied Incident: The narrator implies that an unpleasant event has
occurred but does not reveal it right away.
Snapshot: Uses vivid language to zoom in on and describe an object, a
scene, or character for a specific purpose.

Narrative Lead: Action

I gulped my milk, pushed away from the

table, and bolted out of the kitchen,
slamming the broken screen door behind me.
I ran to our dock as fast as my legs could
carry me. My feet pounded on the old wood,
hurrying me toward my dads voice. Ryan!
he bellowed again.
(Where are the verbs that show action?)

Narrative Lead: Dialogue

Ryan! Get down here on the double! Dad
bellowed. His voice sounded far away.
Dad? I hollered. Where are you? I
squinted through the screen door but couldnt
see him.
Im down on the dock. MOVE IT. Youre not
going to believe this, he replied.

Narrative Lead: Reaction

I couldnt imagine why my father was hollering for me at

7:00 in the morning. I thought fast about what I might
have done to get him so riled. Had he found out about
the way I talked to my mother the night before when we
got to camp and she asked me to help unpack the car?
Did he discover the fishing reel I broke last week?
Before I could consider a third possibility, Dads voice
shattered my thoughts.
(Which words show reaction,reflection, and thought?)

Narrative Lead: Shock Statement

My name is Francis Joseph Tremenari and I

have just returned to Philadelphia. The war
is over and I have lost half of my face.
(What about this makes it a shocking
statement?)

Narrative Lead: Implied Incident

This is a story I would rather not tell. It is a stick

caught in my throat, gagging me, choking its
way up, and now Im stuck with it. I dont want to
tell it, but Hirsch says I must, and Hirsch is my
doctor. He says there is healing in telling, telling
even the worst. But what he doesnt understand
is that I dont want to get well. So, there, now
Ive said it.

(What clues do we have that the incident was unpleasant?)

Narrative Lead: Snapshot

My battered sneakers landed lightly on the black driveway
as I took my first steps in over an hour and a half, leaving
the blue-gray 2006 minivan to explore the humble,
unfamiliar house before me. A plain, one story ranch house,
it looked rather small. I already missed where I had left; the
robin's egg blue, two story wonder with the "secret passage"
linking two rooms. This new house had a dull brick facade,
with green shutters. A white path, flanked by a small
menagerie of bushes, flowers, and weeds, led from the
driveway to my new home.
(What is being described? Which words help create an image?)

Remember

Take your beginning and try it out with at

least three different strategies so you can
choose which is best!

As you become more advanced, you might

notice that leads can be a combination of
more than one strategy!