How to Write a Narrative Essay and Enjoy the Process
Have you ever thought about writing books? Indeed, you have hundreds of fascinating stories that you would like to share. However, the book is quite a significant work. Therefore, to begin with, you can start with a small essay.
With a narrative essay, you have the opportunity to showcase your creativity and create a compelling story for the reader. You do not need to argue or provide evidence to support your opinion. Instead, you share your experience and tell a story that happened or could happen to you.
However, when a student is given the task of writing this type of essay, difficulties often arise. We are sure that you have already understood what type it is. Now, we want to help you figure out the purpose of such a task and how to complete it.
Narrative Essay: Why Do You Need to Write It?
This type of essay does not require you to submit a thesis, accompanying paragraphs, and a conclusion. But it should be well-structured and clearly organized so that readers can understand your story. It also creates a meaningful statement rather than simply listing events and details.
It is not as common as the other types, but you may be asked at least once at school or college. If you are just graduating from high school, this will be a great pre-entry workout. It has many similar characteristics to the introductory essay so that it will be easier for you in the future.
In college, a narrative essay can be given on absolutely any subject. For example, describe your first experience with new technologies or tell it as a story about yourself or someone you know who was a victim of a crime, etc.
How to Start a Narrative Essay: Choose a Topic and a Proper Format
Remember that choosing a topic is only a choice of your writing direction. You may have new ideas about paper, and then you will need to adjust the name. However, it is a typical workflow, so feel free to change it.
You can choose any topic as stories about any aspect of human existence are suitable for this essay. Sometimes, you may already be given a topic or direction. But you can still narrow it down or expand it a bit.
Don’t choose uninteresting stories to write. For example, it might be tedious if you just describe how great your vacation was. Instead, choose a story where some conflict or awkward situation needed a solution. This way, you will interest the reader in your essay. It can also be displayed in the title.
Top 5 Fascinating Ideas for Topics
Below are some interesting directions for your narrative essay, which would be interesting to read to a potential audience.
- Describe the challenges you faced in the last year. How did you manage to cope with them, and what life lessons did you learn from them?
- Tell us about something you’ve done, which makes you proud and lets others know that you’re a good person.
- Share your positive or negative experiences about losing a friendship or love relationship.
- Describe your happiest day, why it became the way it was, and what it taught you.
- Tell us about your vacation that you will never forget.
Usually, teachers give freedom of choice or several topics to choose from. Therefore, do not worry that you will have nothing interesting to write about.
What Structure to Choose?
The most common structure consists of an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The first one is an overview of what you will discuss in your story. Then, the main body will introduce and develop it by describing locations and dialogues. Finally, in conclusion, you need to summarize the whole story. In other words, your essay should have a clear introduction, main transitional paragraphs, and an epilogue that makes the reader think.
Writing a Narrative Essay: Outline Part
It is essential to make an outline with logical points. For example, you want to tell about a stranger who changed your life.
- Introduction with a hook. The main thesis that describes why this topic is relevant to you.
- The Body consists of three paragraphs. Here, you can describe how you meet that stranger, the dialogue between you, how you feel before and after a meeting, etc.
- Conclude what the moral of the story is.
With a clear outline, you can cope with your assignment fast, and it will have a more logical structure.
How to Write a Good Narrative Essay: Step-by-Step Guide
More practical tips for each part of your essay. Don’t try to write all of them at the same time. Always start from the beginning.
Introduction
The introduction should contain a hook sentence that grabs the reader’s attention. Then, you can choose some philosophical quotes related to the topic. But you must be careful because such a quote must also resonate with the story.
Add a thesis that explains what your paper is about. It can be one or two sentences, thanks to which the reader will understand whether they should read further. If the hook attracts attention, the thesis convinces the need to read to the end.
Add a clear description of why the topic is relevant to you. It will explain to the reader why you decided to write about it in the first place. Usually, issues that are significant for a person teach them something. So, the reader might wonder what life lesson you learned.
Body
The body of the narrative essay should include an overview of the backstory and context. For example, if you write about your vacation, tell readers why you decided to go there. Describe a few details of your travels: how many hours and by what transport you got to your destination.
Be sure to include all the key people involved. If you suddenly mention some Paul, the reader will miss the story’s point. Therefore, all active persons should be described in one sentence.
Don’t forget to describe some similar foreshadowing and the beginning and climax of the event. It means what challenges, difficulties, or positive moments you have met on your way. For example, if you were writing a book, this would be its culminating part.
And finally, describe your decisions. Once the reader has read up to this point, they are interested in your story. And now, you simply have to tell how all the situations were resolved and their logical conclusion.
Conclusion
The conclusion should indicate the moral of the story. Try to summarize how exactly the situation affected you. It is not necessary to describe new experiences and impressions. It is not a continuation of your story but its completion.
Explain in a few sentences the meaning of what happened. If this topic is so well-filled for you, there are probably one or more reasons for this.
At the very end, you can add a call to action. It can be a rhetorical question that will make the reader think or act as a call to tell a similar story. It all depends on your imagination and whether it is appropriate to add such a call.
How Do You Write a Narrative Essay: Top-5 Tips
When writing such an essay, remember that you are sharing your experiences and experiences. Therefore, an emotional connection should arise between you and the reader.
- Make your text bright and colorful so the readers feel that they are not reading your essay but are having a lively dialogue with you.
- To be imbued with history, its elements must support what you express.
- You must use the conflict and its resolution to generate empathy and interest.
- You can use flashbacks and fast forwards to help the story reach its climax.
- Typically, a narrative essay is written in the first person, but it can also be used in the third person if you are describing a friend’s story.
Do you know what else can help you better understand the essence of such essays? It is a database of examples. Be sure to read a few of them to see the style, format, manner of writing, etc. It can also inspire you to write your own story on a similar topic and give you a complete picture of what you should be doing.
Final Thoughts
A narrative essay is a great way to hone your writing skills and share exciting moments from your biography. If talking about yourself is not for you, you can use the services of experienced writers. You will only need to describe the necessary requirements and wait for the finished essay with a fascinating story.ч
