NARRATIVE WRITING

NARRATION, IN ITS BEST DEFINITION, IS STORYTELLING, IT IS A SEQUENCE OF

EVENTS, NOT NECESSARY ARRANGED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, TOLD BY A
NARRATOR, HAPPENING IN A PARTICULAR PLACE AT A PARTICULAR TIME.
NARRATION IS CREATING A WORLD BASED ON THE AUTHOR’S MEMORY. IN EITHER
CASE, THE READER IS AIMED TO BE TRANPORTEDFROM ONE’S REAL WORLD TO THE
REALITY OF THE STORY BEING READ.

VIVID DESCRIPTION OF DETAILS

TAKE THE READER INTO THE NARRATIVE BY LETTING HIM/HER FEEL HOW IT IS LIKE
IN THE WORLD OF YOUR STORY.
IN THE FOLLOWING EXCERPT LIFTED FROM THE DAY THE DANCERS CAME,
BIENVENIDO N. SANTOS IS SUCCESSFUL IN BRINGING TO LIFE THE PERFORMANCE
OF THE DANCERS THAT FIL RECORDED IN HID MAGIC MIRROR.

CONSISTENT POINT OF VIEW

IN THE SAMPLE TEXT OF THE DAY THE DANCERS CAME, THE THIRD PERSON POINT
OF VIEW IS USED.
THE NARRATOR IS ALL-KNOWING, THIS TRAIT ENABLES THE READER TO SEE NOT
ONLY THE DIALOUGE THAT HAPPENS BETWEEN OR AMONG THE CHARACTERS, BUT
ALSO THE CHARACTERS INNERMOST THOUGHTS AND DESIRES. THROUGH
INTERNAL MONOLOUGE, THE READER IS ENABLE TO PENETRATE THE CHARACTER’S
MIND TO BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE CHARACTERS ARE NOT BLATANTLY
SAYING. DISPASSION, ON THE ATHER HAND PRESENTS A RELATIVELY OBJECTIVE
STORY TO THE READER, ONE WITHOUT MUCH BIAS AND OPINION. THE NARRATOR
TELLS THE STORY AS IT HAPPENS, WITH AD, COMMENTARY AND PARTIALY.
CONSISTENT VERB TENSE
IN THE DAY THE DANCERS CAME, THE PAST TENSE IS LARGELY USED TO LET THE
READERS KNOW THAT THE EVENTS OF THE STORY ARE ALREDY DONE. WHAT THE
NARRATOR OF SANTO’S SHORT STORY IS DOING EVERY TIME IT IS READ IS ACTUALY
RETELLING OF A SEQUENCE IOF EVENTS THAT HAD STARTED AND ALSO ENDED IN
THE PAST.

WELL-DEFINED POINT OR SIGNIFICANCE

A WRITER CHOOSES A STORY THAT HE/SHE WOULD WEAVE INTO A NARRATIVE.
THE VIVID DETAILS ARE THERE, AND THE CONSISTENT POV, AND THE VERB TENSE,
AS WELL. BUT SO WHAT NONE OF THESE WOULD MATTER IF THERE’S NO POINT IN
THEM.
A WELL-DEFINED POINT OR SIGNIFICANCE IN ANY NARRATIVE IS SOMETHING AKIN
TO THE LITERARY ELEMENTS WE CALL THEME.
THE THEME IS THE UNIFIYING THOUGHT OR IDEA BORN OUT OF ALL THE OTHER
ELEMENTS OF THE STORY. IT IS THE UNIVERSAL HUMAN TRUTH THAT IS NOT
USUALLY BLATANTLY SAID IN A STORY; RATHER, UNRAVELLED AS THE READER
READS.
IN THE CASE OF THE DAY THE DANCERS CAME A READER WOULD MOST LIKELY FIND
IT STRANGE HOW A FIFTY YEAR OLD MAN SUCH AS FIL ACT LIKE A YOUNG CHILD
EAGER TO WATCH THE DANCERS FROM THE PHILIPPINES. WHY DOES HE WANT TO
SHOW THEM AROUND? WHY DOES HE WANT TO ENTERTAIN THEM IN HIS AND
TONY’S APARTMENT? WHY DOES HE RECORD THE PERFORMANCE OF THE DANCER
IN HIS MAGIC SOUND MIRROR? WHY DOES HE DREAM OF TONY TEACHING HIM “
HOW TO KEEP AFLOAT”? ALL THESE QUESTION WILL LEAD YOU TO ONE OF THE
THEMES OF THE STORY WHICH IS LONGING FOR HOMELAND. IT IS A LONGING THAT
EXCITES FIL TO WATCH THE DANCERS PERFORM- THE SAME LONGING THAT LEFT
HIM DISSARAY WHEN HE ACCIDENTALLY ERASED ALL RECORDINGS IN HIS MAGIC
SOUND MIRROR. AND IF PRESENTED WOTH THE CHANCE TO REUNITE WITH
ANYONEOR ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH HIS MOTHERLAND, FIL WOULS
JUMP RIGHT INTO IT. THE HUMAN EMOTION OF LONGING CAN BE VEIWED AS
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DAY THE DANCERS CAME AS IT CLEARLY EXPAINS THE
REASONS BEHIND FIL, TONY, AND THE DANCERS’ ACTION THROUGHOUT THE
STORY.

NARRATIVE DEVICES
WITH THESE DEVICES, AN AUTHOR CAN SHORTEN, LENGTHEN, AND/OR FOCUS ON
A PARTICULAR EVENT IN THE STORY.

ANECDOTE
IT CANBE USED AS INTRODUCTION TO AN ESSAY, AS AN EXAMPLE TO ILLUSTRATE
POINT, OR AS CLOSING STATEMENT THAT CAPS THNGS OFF NICELY IN YOUR ESSAY
OR AS MEMENTO TO YOUR READER THAT WILL MAKE HIM/HER REMEMBER YOUR
NARRATIVE.

FLASHBACK
AS THE WORD ITSELF SUGGESTS, YOU ARE “FLASHING BACK” OR QUICKLY LOOKING
BACK AT SOMETHING THAT HAD ALREADY HAPPENED. IT IS NOT NECESSARILY THE
FOCUS OF THE STORY; RATHER, MORE OF AN ADDITION TO EXPLAIN OR TO
ELABORATE ON A POINT MADE BY THE WRITER IN THE NARRATIVE.

TIME STRETCH
IN THE DAY THE DANCERS CAME, THE SCENE IN WHICH FIL IS IN THE HAMILTON
HOTEL TO GREET THE DANCERS CAN BE COSIDERED AS AN EXAMPLE OF TIME
STRETCH. DANTOS DEDICATED AT LEAST A PAGE TO DESCRIBE HOW FIL FELT LIKE
AN OUTSIDER- AN OUTCAST, AN ALIEN, A LONELY OLD-TIMER AMIDST FELLOW
COUNTRYMEN- IN A SINGLE SCENE. THERE WAS NOT ONLY A NARRATION OF
EVENTS, BUT ALSO DIALOUGE.
FLASHFORWARD
IT IS “FLASHING FORWARD” OR QUICKLY LOOKING AT SOMETHING THAT WILL
HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE. SIMILAR TO A PRIMARY PURPOSE OF FLASHBACK, A
FLASHFORWARDIS INCLUDED IN A NARRATIVE TO ADD MEANING TO THE STORY.