Narrative Writing

BBA 2: Academic Reading and Writing

• The definition of narrative is a piece of writing
that tells a story. The other types of writing
include an exposition, which explains and
analyzes an idea or set of ideas;
an argument, which attempts to persuade the
reader to a particular point of view; and
a description, a written form of a visual
experience.

Definition
• A narrative is a form of writing that tells a
story. 
• Narratives can be essays, fairy tales, movies,
and jokes. 
• Narratives have five elements: plot, setting,
character, conflict, and theme. 
• Writers use narrator style, chronological
order, a point of view, and other strategies to
tell a story.

INTRODUCTION
• Narratives may be a sequence of events in 
chronological order or an imagined tale with
flashbacks or multiple timelines.
• Every narrative has five elements that define and
shape the narrative: plot, setting, character, 
conflict, and theme.

INTRODUCTION
• The plot is the thread of events that occur in a
story.
• The characters are the people in the story who
drive the plot, are impacted by the plot, or may
even be bystanders to the plot.
• The conflict is the problem that is being
resolved. Plots need a moment of tension, which
involves some difficulty that requires resolution.

ELEMENTS
• 1. Linear Narrative. A linear narrative presents the events of the
story in the order in which they actually happened. This can be
accomplished through any narrative perspective, be it first-person
narration, second-person narration, or third-person narration. The
types of writing that employ linear narrative have the effect of
immersing the reader in the daily life of the protagonist, as the
reader watches the events of the character’s life unfold in
chronological order. Examples of narrative linearity can be found
in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, which offers different
narrative perspectives but unfolds the plot in a linear,
chronological manner

TYPES OF NARRATIVE WRITING

• 2. Non-linear Narrative. A non-linear narrative
presents the events of the story out of order,
employing flashbacks and other literary devices
to shift the chronology of a story. A short story,
novella, or novel may fracture the timeline of the
story in order to emphasize the emotional
mindset of a personal narrative or make thematic
connections between noncontemporary events.

TYPES OF NARRATIVE WRITING

• 3. Quest Narrative. A quest narrative is a story
in which the protagonist works tirelessly toward
a goal. The pursuit of this goal likely becomes
their all-consuming passion, and they must face
seemingly insurmountable obstacles along the
way. Typically, this object of their pursuit is
geographically remote, and the character must go
on a long journey to obtain.

TYPES OF NARRATIVE WRITING

• 4. Viewpoint Narrative. Viewpoint narrative is designed to express the
points of view or subjective personal experience of the main character
or other fictional characters in the story. In viewpoint narrative writing,
moods, feelings, and other sensory details are filtered through the
narrator’s own life and subjective point of view. This narrative style
often takes the form of first-person narration or third-person omniscient
narration, in which the omniscient narrator switches between the POVs
and private thoughts of multiple central characters. This type of
narrative allows for the possibility of an unreliable narrator, in which
the person telling the story presents information subjectively and in an
untrustworthy manner. The unreliable narrator is either deliberately
deceptive (e.g. a noted liar or trickster) or unintentionally misguided
(e.g. a middle schooler who may not fully understand the events taking
place), forcing the reader to question their credibility as a storyteller.

TYPES OF NARRATIVE WRITING

• Narrative writing tells a story or part of a story.
• Descriptive writing vividly portrays a person, place,
or thing in such a way that the reader can visualize
the topic and enter into the writer’s experience
• So in narrative writing, the writer is perfectly
capable of telling you the plot of the story, while in
descriptive writing there does not have to be a plot,
but something has to become very easy for the reader
to visualize.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NARRATIVE &

DESCRIPTIVE WRITING