Characteristics of Personal Narrative Writing

The Point/Theme
Personal essays will have a central theme—this is what the essay is “about” in the larger sense
(not plot). For example, Orwell’s essay “Shooting an Elephant” about (in terms of plot) a guy
who shoots an elephant even though it was really unnecessary. However, thematically, it is
“about” maintaining power, saving face, and acting under pressure.

Epiphany
An epiphany is a moment of sudden realization or awareness of a truth. It represents the reflective
“aha” moments in the essay. A personal narrative may contain multiple epiphanies in varying
degrees (see “Anxiety” from week 1).

Suspense
Most personal narratives will not contain horror movie-like tension; however, try to write in a
way that keeps your reader wanting to know what will happen next. If your readers already know
how everything is going to turn out from the first paragraph, why should they continue?

Climax
As with fiction, a personal narrative works toward a climactic event—a turning point or moment
of action to which the narrative builds.

Self-honesty
In a personal essay, you are not trying to make yourself look cool and in control. Instead,
effective personal essays will reveal moments of vulnerability or weakness—moments when you
or the circumstances weren’t the best. Honesty is the key, even (perhaps especially) if that
honesty is revealing or a little hard to admit.
Note: You will not want to embarrass yourself by revealing information that is too personal, and
do not violate another person’s privacy by revealing sensitive information about him or her.

Description
Your job is to create the sensory images and emotions of your experience so that your reader
knows what you saw, felt, and thought. See last week’s lesson on description for more
information.

Character development
The people in your narrative, especially yourself, need to come alive and seem like real and
interesting people. Often a bit of dialogue or mentioning a quirky character trait goes a long way
in creating a “three dimensional” character, as opposed to a flat, boring character who appears
like a puppet in your story. However, not every person who shows up in your narrative will
require characterization, but only those who are central to the story.

Universal recognition
The essay should have some element to which most people can relate. The reader should be able
to see themselves and their own experience, to a certain extent, in the story. For example, from
this week’s readings, everyone has struggled against some personal “monster,” had a relationship
with a parent, or acted in a certain way because of group pressure.

Chronological organization
Since personal narratives deal with telling stories, the organization is chronological—events
occur in a particular sequence. Sometimes writers play with time by starting at the end and then
back tracking, but some form of “time” is usually the organizational principle.