NARRATIVE WRITING

A Narrative is a STORY.

There are two types of narrative:

1. Narrative ~ A fictional story. This means that you can make up all the
events.
2. Personal Narrative~ A TRUE story about an event that happened in your life.
Sometimes this is easier to write, as it becomes more emotionally connected
with the reader.

Structure:
It is important to have a clear story in your piece of writing. You should spend some
time planning this beforehand.

Introduction:

You should use this to introduce characters, setting and mood.

Middle:

1. Events happen (Rising Action) - the plot should move forward.

2. Use details.
3. Keep the events progressing forward.

End:

A consequence and outcome should occur (Falling Action)

Narrators
You must choose which narrator you are attempting to create. It affects the voice
and emotion within the piece.

First Person: Character is the narrator. Use “I” and “we”. This is used to be able to
show the emotions of the character. It only allows for one point of view, and we
cannot see a balanced point of view.

Second Person: This is when the reader becomes the narrator. It is often used in
advertisement, but it is quite difficult to use well in a story.

Third Person Omniscient:

This is when you see a story from many different points of views. The audience is able to
see all the thoughts and feelings of the characters.
Linguistic Features:
Dialogue:

Dialogue is a key linguistic device in a narrative. However, the punctuation of speech

is often misused, and it is easy to fall on marks when using speech. If you use
speech, ensure you are accurate.

You need to follow the rules:

1. Use a new line for each new speaker.

2. Use speech marks: one at the start and one of the ends of the words that are
spoken.
3. Punctuate the speech. There needs to be a comma inside the quotation marks, then
who said the words.
4. Try to be expressive. Do not just use ‘said’, as it is boring. Try ‘exclaimed’ or
‘shouted’, depending on mood.
5. The speech does not represent the end of a sentence. Do not put a capital letter on
the afterwards.

_ “Superb,” Mike said as he ran down the busy hallway to his classroom. “I can’t
believe it!”_

“What happened?” shouted Joe.

Flashback:

You need to follow the plot line; however, you can go back in time to explain an
event or feeling. You could even begin your story in this way.

Foreshadowing:

You can give hints to future events, and this will create a sense of looming danger.

Descriptive Language:

Do not be afraid to have moments of description within the narrative. This might
include using the senses.

One of the most important word classes in narration is verbs. They can provide much
description, which adds mood to your story.

How do each of the underlined words create different meanings?

You must choose a word that conveys your ‘correct’ meaning. None are right or
wrong and they are all synonyms of ‘safe’; however, each word creates a different
meaning.
Tense:

You need to make sure that you assign a tense to each sentence that you produce.
A common error when writing to describe is to leave a sentence ‘floating’ with no
tense attached to it.

Example of an incorrect sentence:

· Covering the ground in purest white, the snow continuing to fall.

This needs to be changed to either the present tense:

· Covering the ground in purest white, the snow continues to fall.

Alternatively, it could be changed to the past tense:

· Covering the ground in purest white, the snow continued to fall.

Your Task: Add whatever is necessary to the sentences below to make sure that
they are either in the present or past tense. It may be a verb in either the present or
past tense; it may also be a punctuation mark or another word… it’s up to you.

1. Walking through the crowd, the pickpocket targeting his prey.

2. Sitting quietly by the edge of the track, noticing the passers-by.
3. Quietly crying, the child trying not to draw attention to herself.
4. With rain pelting down on the tarmac, the airplane struggling to land.
5. Keeping his hand on the steering wheel, singing along to the radio.