Narrative Writing

Challenge: Write a story in

just 6 words!
E.g. Ernest Hemingway:  
“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
In Today’s Session

Objectives:
 Understand the key features of narrative writing and its
structure.
 Explore use of narrative openings and endings to engage the
audience.
 Explore the use of an unusual narrative voice.
Outcomes:
 Read and annotated extracts for key features of narrative
writing.
 Identified effective opening and endings and used these to
write your own.
 Identified different narrative voices and written own
sentences using an unusual narrative voice.
Success criteria

 In pairs

What are the

features of a
Band 1 piece of
descriptive
writing?
Assessment Objectives:

Band 1:
Many well-defined and developed ideas and images
create a convincing, original picture.
W1 – Content is complex, sophisticated and realistic.
W2 – Overall structure is secure and well- balanced.
W3 – Consistently wide range of appropriate
vocabulary.
W4 – Effective sense of audience, appropriate use of
varied sentence structures.
W5 – Spelling, punctuation and grammar almost
always accurate.
Feedback: Self-Reflection

 Look at your
W1 – Express what is thought ,
comments and Band. felt and imagined.
 What do you need to W2 – order and present facts,
ideas and opinions.
do to achieve a Band W3- understand and use a range
of appropriate vocabulary.
1? W4 – use language and register
 Rewrite one appropriate for audience and
context.
sentence making the W5 – accurate and effective use of
suggested paragraphs, sentences,
punctuation and spelling.
improvements.
What is a narrative?

A spoken or written account

of connected events; a story.
Key Features of Narrative Writing

 Characters
 Storyline
 Voice
 Tense
 Structure
 Openings
 Dialogue
 Descriptions
 Endings
Genre

 In pairs brainstorm the different types/genres

of story you can think of – 2 minutes

What types of
story are there?
How to identify a genre?

Clues

Setting
Character
Plot
Objects
 Identify Genre
 ‘The Martian desert was almost flat, flat
and bare. Not even a scrub of vegetation
existed here. This particular area had been
dead and deserted for who knows how 1. What is the
genre of the
many thousands or millions of years…It
extracts?
was getting cold.’ 2. Pick 3 details
to support
 ‘I hear her restless in the night, walking the your points.
floor, pacing up and down. I don’t move in 3. What effect
do these have
my bed, pretending I’m asleep. I know she on the
wants to call him. I hope she doesn’t. But I reader?
also know that Hallowe’en is coming and
she must call…’
‘As I Walked Out One Summer’s
Morning’
 Read the extract by Laurie Lee.
 Identify the imagery and adjectives used to
create:
 Character
Who is the story
 Setting about?
What is happening?
 Atmosphere Where is it
happening?
 What is
suspense?
‘The Woman in Black’

 Read the extract

 Who is Spider?
 Identify words/phrases to create tension and
suspense.
Suspense

 How does the writer create suspense?

 Find 2 examples

Which words and phrases convey a sense of

pain and danger?
STORY OPENINGS

How do the following opening stories grab the reader?

 Saturday, June the 13th. And Robert Caligari is going to die
today.
 In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
 If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would
be better off reading some other book.
 Have you ever felt the stillness of that strange, quiet time
between Christmas and New Year?
 It was 7 minutes after midnight. The dog was lying on the grass
in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs Shears’ house.
 Lyra and her daemon moved through the darkening Hall, taking
care to keep to one side, out of sight of the kitchen.
Write own opening sentence for a narrative full of
suspense.
The Narrator: who is telling the story?

“—Of course, an introduction.

A beginning.
Where are my manners?
I could introduce myself properly, but it’s not really necessary. You
will know me well enough and soon enough, depending on a diverse
range of variables. It suffices to say that at some point in time, I will
be standing over you, as genially as possible. Your soul will be in my
arms. A colour will be perched on my shoulder. I will carry you gently
away.”

Why is their narrative voice unusual?

Who could be the narrator?
 How many different possible narrative voices could
there be?
 Write the opening sentence to this story using an
unusual narrative voice.
The End is Nigh!

Endings should reward your reader. Try not to use a

predictable or overused ending (such as then I woke up).
Types of ending:
 A ‘cliff hanger’
 Short piece of humorous, dramatic or ironic indirect
speech.
 An unexpected twist.
 A return to the beginning Now write the
 Happily-ever-after ending sentence
 An open ending to your unusual
 A sense of finality narrative voice.
Tool Box of Narrative Writing

What should go in the tool

box of narrative writing?