how long should narrative essay be

How to Write a Perfect Narrative Essay (Step-by-Step)

By Status.net Editorial Team on October 17, 2023 — 10 minutes to read

• Understanding a Narrative Essay Part 1
• Typical Narrative Essay Structure Part 2
• Narrative Essay Template Part 3
• Step 1. How to Choose Your Narrative Essay Topic Part 4
• Step 2. Planning the Structure Part 5
• Step 3. Crafting an Intriguing Introduction Part 6
• Step 4. Weaving the Narrative Body Part 7
• Step 5. Creating a Conclusion Part 8
• Step 6. Polishing the Essay Part 9
• Step 7. Feedback and Revision Part 10

Part 1 Understanding a Narrative Essay

A narrative essay is a form of writing where you share a personal experience or tell a story to make a point or convey a lesson. Unlike other types of essays, a narrative essay aims to engage your audience by sharing your perspective and taking them on an emotional journey.

• To begin, choose a meaningful topic . Pick a story or experience that had a significant impact on your life, taught you something valuable, or made you see the world differently. You want your readers to learn from your experiences, so choose something that will resonate with others.
• Next, create an outline . Although narrative essays allow for creative storytelling, it’s still helpful to have a roadmap to guide your writing. List the main events, the characters involved, and the settings where the events took place. This will help you ensure that your essay is well-structured and easy to follow.
• When writing your narrative essay, focus on showing, not telling . This means that you should use descriptive language and vivid details to paint a picture in your reader’s mind. For example, instead of stating that it was a rainy day, describe the sound of rain hitting your window, the feeling of cold wetness around you, and the sight of puddles forming around your feet. These sensory details will make your essay more engaging and immersive.
• Another key aspect is developing your characters . Give your readers an insight into the thoughts and emotions of the people in your story. This helps them connect with the story, empathize with the characters, and understand their actions. For instance, if your essay is about a challenging hike you took with a friend, spend some time describing your friend’s personality and how the experience impacted their attitude or feelings.
• Keep the pace interesting . Vary your sentence lengths and structures, and don’t be afraid to use some stylistic devices like dialogue, flashbacks, and metaphors. This adds more depth and dimension to your story, keeping your readers engaged from beginning to end.

Part 2 Typical Narrative Essay Structure

A narrative essay typically follows a three-part structure: introduction, body, and conclusion.

• Introduction: Start with a hook to grab attention and introduce your story. Provide some background to set the stage for the main events.
• Body: Develop your story in detail. Describe scenes, characters, and emotions. Use dialogue when necessary to provide conversational elements.
• Conclusion: Sum up your story, revealing the lesson learned or the moral of the story. Leave your audience with a lasting impression.

Part 3 Narrative Essay Template

• 1. Introduction : Set the scene and introduce the main characters and setting of your story. Use descriptive language to paint a vivid picture for your reader and capture their attention.
• Body 2. Rising Action : Develop the plot by introducing a conflict or challenge that the main character must face. This could be a personal struggle, a difficult decision, or an external obstacle. 3. Climax : This is the turning point of the story, where the conflict reaches its peak and the main character must make a critical decision or take action. 4. Falling Action : Show the consequences of the main character’s decision or action, and how it affects the rest of the story. 5. Resolution : Bring the story to a satisfying conclusion by resolving the conflict and showing how the main character has grown or changed as a result of their experiences.
• 6. Reflection/Conclusion : Reflect on the events of the story and what they mean to you as the writer. This could be a lesson learned, a personal realization, or a message you want to convey to your reader.

Part 4 Step 1. How to Choose Your Narrative Essay Topic

Brainstorming ideas.

Start by jotting down any ideas that pop into your mind. Think about experiences you’ve had, stories you’ve heard, or even books and movies that have resonated with you. Write these ideas down and don’t worry too much about organization yet. It’s all about getting your thoughts on paper.

Once you have a list, review your ideas and identify common themes or connections between them. This process should help you discover potential topics for your narrative essay.

Narrowing Down the Choices

After brainstorming, you’ll likely end up with a few strong contenders for your essay topic. To decide which topic is best, consider the following:

• Relevance : Is the topic meaningful for your audience? Will they be able to connect with it on a personal level? Consider the purpose of your assignment and your audience when choosing your topic.
• Detail : Do you have enough specific details to craft a vivid story? The more detail you can recall about the event, the easier it’ll be to write a compelling narrative.
• Emotional impact : A strong narrative essay should evoke emotions in your readers. Choose a topic that has the potential to elicit some emotional response from your target audience.

After evaluating your potential topics based on these criteria, you can select the one that best fits the purpose of your narrative essay.

Part 5 Step 2. Planning the Structure

Creating an outline.

Before you start writing your narrative essay, it’s a great idea to plan out your story. Grab a piece of paper and sketch out a rough outline of the key points you want to cover. Begin with the introduction, where you’ll set the scene and introduce your characters. Then, list the major events of your story in chronological order, followed by the climax and resolution. Organizing your ideas in an outline will ensure your essay flows smoothly and makes sense to your readers.

Detailing Characters, Settings, and Events

Taking time to flesh out the characters, settings, and events in your story will make it more engaging and relatable. Think about your main character’s background, traits, and motivations. Describe their appearance, emotions, and behavior in detail. This personal touch will help your readers connect with them on a deeper level.

Also, give some thought to the setting – where does the story take place? Be sure to include sensory details that paint a vivid picture of the environment. Finally, focus on the series of events that make up your narrative. Are there any twists and turns, or surprising moments? Address these in your essay, using vivid language and engaging storytelling techniques to captivate your readers.

Writing the Narrative Essay

Part 6 step 3. crafting an intriguing introduction.

To start your narrative essay, you’ll want to hook your reader with an interesting and engaging opening. Begin with a captivating sentence or question that piques curiosity and captures attention. For example, “Did you ever think a simple bus ride could change your life forever?” This kind of opening sets the stage for a compelling, relatable story. Next, introduce your main characters and provide a bit of context to help your readers understand the setting and background of the story.

Part 7 Step 4. Weaving the Narrative Body

The body of your essay is where your story unfolds. Here’s where you’ll present a series of events, using descriptive language and vivid details.

Remember to maintain a strong focus on the central theme or main point of your narrative.

Organize your essay chronologically, guiding your reader through the timeline of events.

As you recount your experience, use a variety of sensory details, such as sounds, smells, and tastes, to immerse your reader in the moment. For instance, “The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the room as my friends and I excitedly chattered about our upcoming adventure.”

Take advantage of dialogue to bring your characters to life and to reveal aspects of their personalities. Incorporate both internal and external conflicts, as conflict plays a crucial role in engaging your reader and enhancing the narrative’s momentum. Show the evolution of your characters and how they grow throughout the story.

Part 8 Step 5. Creating a Conclusion

Finally, to write a satisfying conclusion, reflect on the narrative’s impact and how the experience has affected you or your characters. Tie the narrative’s events together and highlight the lessons learned, providing closure for the reader.

Avoid abruptly ending your story, because that can leave the reader feeling unsatisfied. Instead, strive to create a sense of resolution and demonstrate how the events have changed the characters’ perspectives or how the story’s theme has developed.

For example, “Looking back, I realize that the bus ride not only changed my perspective on friendship, but also taught me valuable life lessons that I carry with me to this day.”

Part 9 Step 6. Polishing the Essay

Fine-tuning your language.

When writing a narrative essay, it’s key to choose words that convey the emotions and experiences you’re describing. Opt for specific, vivid language that creates a clear mental image for your reader. For instance, instead of saying “The weather was hot,” try “The sun scorched the pavement, causing the air to shimmer like a mirage.” This gives your essay a more engaging and immersive feeling.

Editing for Clarity and Concision

As you revise your essay, keep an eye out for redundancies and unnecessary words that might dilute the impact of your story. Getting to the point and using straightforward language can help your essay flow better. For example, instead of using “She was walking in a very slow manner,” you can say, “She strolled leisurely.” Eliminate filler words and phrases, keeping only the most pertinent information that moves your story forward.

Proofreading for Typos

Finally, proofread your essay carefully to catch any typos, grammatical errors, or punctuation mistakes. It’s always a good idea to have someone else read it as well, as they might catch errors you didn’t notice. Mistakes can be distracting and may undermine the credibility of your writing, so be thorough with your editing process.

Part 10 Step 7. Feedback and Revision

Gathering feedback.

After you’ve written the first draft of your narrative essay, it’s time to gather feedback from friends, family, or colleagues. Share your essay with a few trusted people who can provide insights and suggestions for improvement. Listen to their thoughts and be open to constructive criticism. You might be surprised by the different perspectives they offer, which can strengthen your essay.

Iterating on the Draft

Once you have collected feedback, it’s time to revise and refine your essay. Address any issues or concerns raised by your readers and incorporate their suggestions. Consider reorganizing your story’s structure, clarifying your descriptions, or adding more details based on the feedback you received.

As you make changes, continue to fine-tune your essay to ensure a smooth flow and a strong narrative. Don’t be afraid to cut out unnecessary elements or rework parts of your story until it’s polished and compelling.

Revision is a crucial part of the writing process, and taking the time to reflect on feedback and make improvements will help you create a more engaging and impactful narrative essay.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can i create an engaging introduction.

Craft an attention-grabbing hook with a thought-provoking question, an interesting fact, or a vivid description. Set the stage for your story by introducing the time, place, and context for the events. Creating tension or raising curiosity will make your readers eager to learn more.

What strategies help develop strong characters?

To develop strong characters, consider the following:

• Give your characters distinct traits, strengths, and weaknesses.
• Provide a backstory to explain their actions and motivations.
• Use dialogue to present their personality, emotions, and relationships.
• Show how they change or evolve throughout your story.

How can I make my story flow smoothly with transitions?

Smooth transitions between scenes or events can create a more coherent and easy-to-follow story. Consider the following tips to improve your transitions:

• Use words and phrases like “meanwhile,” “later that day,” or “afterward” to signify changes in time.
• Link scenes with a common theme or element.
• Revisit the main characters or setting to maintain continuity.
• Introduce a twist or an unexpected event that leads to the next scene.

What are some tips for choosing a great narrative essay topic?

To choose an engaging narrative essay topic, follow these tips:

• Pick a personal experience or story that holds significance for you.
• Consider a challenge or a turning point you’ve faced in your life.
• Opt for a topic that will allow you to share emotions and lessons learned.
• Think about what your audience would find relatable, intriguing, or inspiring.

How do I wrap up my narrative essay with a strong conclusion?

A compelling conclusion restates the main events and highlights any lessons learned or growth in your character. Try to end on a thought-provoking note or leave readers with some food for thought. Finally, make sure your conclusion wraps up your story neatly and reinforces its overall message.

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How to Write a Narrative Essay

Last Updated: April 18, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,903,566 times.

Narrative essays are commonly assigned pieces of writing at different stages through school. Like any story, they have a plot, conflict, and characters. Typically, assignments involve telling a story from your own life that connects with class themes. It can be a fun type of assignment to write, if you approach it properly. Learn how to choose a good topic, get a solid rough draft on paper, and revise your narrative essay.

Choosing a Good Topic

• Most of the time, narrative essays will involve no outside research or references. Instead, you'll be using your personal story to provide the evidence of some point that you're trying to make. [3] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source However, in some cases using research may enhance your story because it will allow you to provide additional detail.
• Narrative essays are a common school assignment used to test your creative story-telling skills, as well as your ability to connect some element of your personal life to a topic you might be discussing in class.

• You experienced adversity and had to overcome
• You failed and had to deal with the consequences of that failure
• Your personality or character was transformed

• Bad narrative essays are generally too broad. "My senior year of high school" or "This summer" are examples of stories that would be far too big to tell in the amount of specific detail that a good narrative essay requires. Pick a single event from the summer, or a single week of your senior year, not something that takes months to unfold.
• It's also good to limit the number of characters you introduce. Only include other characters who are absolutely essential. Every single friend from your fifth grade class will be too many names to keep track of. Pick one.

• Let your imagination fill in the gaps. When you're describing your grandmother's house and a specific weekend you remember spending there, it's not important to remember exactly what was cooked for dinner on Friday night, unless that's an important part of the story. What did your grandmother typically cook? What did it usually smell like? Those are the details we need.
• Typically, narrative essays are "non-fiction," which means that you can't just make up a story. It needs to have really happened. Force yourself to stay as true as possible to the straight story.

Writing a Draft

• It helps to limit things as much as possible. While it might seem like we need to know a bunch of specific details from your senior year, try to think of a particularly tumultuous day from that year and tell us that story. Where does that story start? Not the first day of school that year. Find a better starting point.
• If you want to tell the story of your prom night, does it start when you get dressed? Maybe. Does it start when you spill spaghetti sauce all down your dress before the dance? While that might seem like the climax of a story you want to tell, it might make a better starting place. Go straight to the drama.
• You don't need to write up a formal outline for a narrative essay unless it's part of the assignment or it really helps you write. Listing the major scenes that need to be a part of the story will help you get organized and find a good place to start.

• Don't switch perspectives throughout the story. This is a difficult and advanced technique to try to pull off, and it usually has the effect of being too complicated. There should only be one "I" in the story.
• In general, narrative essays (and short stories for that matter) should also be told in past tense. So, you would write "Johnny and I walked to the store every Thursday" not "Johnny and I are walking to the store, like we do every Thursday."
• You may be instructed to write in the 3rd person (such as he, she, it, they, them, their). If so, be consistent with your pronouns throughout the story.

• Particular details are specific and only particular to the character being described. While it may be specific to say that your friend has brown hair, green eyes, is 5 feet (1.5 m) tall with an athletic build, these things don't tell us much about the character. The fact that he only wears silk dragon shirts? Now that gives us something interesting.
• Try writing up a brief sketch of each principal character in your narrative essay, along with the specific details you remember about them. Pick a few essentials.

• Who or what is the antagonist in your story? To answer this question, you also need to find out what the protagonist wants. What is the goal? What's the best case scenario for the protagonist? What stands in the protagonist's way?
• The antagonist isn't "the bad guy" of the story, necessarily, and not every story has a clear antagonist. Also keep in mind that for some good personal narratives, you might be the antagonist yourself.

• Do a freewrite about the location that your story takes place. What do you know about the place? What can you remember? What can you find out?
• If you do any research for your narrative essay, it will probably be here. Try to find out extra details about the setting of your story, or double-check your memory to make sure it's right.

• A popular creative writing phrase tells writers to "show" not to "tell." What this means is that you should give us details whenever possible, rather than telling us facts. You might tell us something like, "My dad was always sad that year," but if you wrote "Dad never spoke when he got home from work. We heard his truck, then heard as he laid his battered hardhat on the kitchen table. Then we heard him sigh deeply and take off his work clothes, which were stained with grease."

Your words should have an impact. "Good writing does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else's head."

Revising Your Essay

• Get the theme into the very beginning of the essay. Just as a researched argument essay needs to have a thesis statement somewhere in the first few paragraphs of the essay, a narrative essay needs a topic statement or a thesis statement to explain the main idea of the story.
• This isn't "ruining the surprise" of the story, this is foreshadowing the important themes and details to notice over the course of the story as you tell it. A good writer doesn't need suspense in a narrative essay. The ending should seem inevitable.

• Scene: "On our walk to the store, Jared and I stopped at the empty grass lot to talk. 'What's your problem lately?' he asked, his eyes welling with tears. I didn't know what to tell him. I fidgeted, kicked an empty paint bucket that was rusted over at the edge of the lot. 'Remember when we used to play baseball here?' I asked him."
• Analysis: "We finished walking to the store and bought all the stuff for the big holiday dinner. We got a turkey, cornbread, cranberries. The works. The store was crazy-packed with happy holiday shoppers, but we walked through them all, not saying a word to each other. It took forever to lug it all home."

• Anything spoken by a character out loud needs to be included in quotation marks and attributed to the character speaking it: "I've never been to Paris," said James.
• Each time a new character speaks, you need to make a new paragraph . If the same character speaks, multiple instances of dialog can exist in the same paragraph.

• Revise for clarity first. Are your main points clear? If not, make them clear by including more details or narration in the writing. Hammer home your points.
• Was the decision you made about the starting place of the story correct? Or, now that you've written, might it be better to start the story later? Ask the tough questions.
• Proofreading is one part of revision, but it's a very minor part and it should be done last. Checking punctuation and spelling is the last thing you should be worried about in your narrative essay.

Sample Essay

Expert Q&A

• Be sensible while writing. It is necessary to stay on the topic rather than moving away from it. Do not lose your focus. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Divide your essay into paragraphs, according to your limit: an introduction, two body paragraph and one conclusion. Your introduction can be either a shocker one, or one just describing the setting; the conclusion can reveal a surprise, or end with just a hint of the climax, keeping the final question to be answered by the readers. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Write only when you have a perfect story to tell. When a reader finishes reading the story, he\she should feel all those emotions seep right through his\her rib cage. Only then as a narrator, have you succeeded. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://examples.yourdictionary.com/narrative-essay-examples.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/essay_writing/narrative_essays.html
• ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/20/learning/lesson-plans/650-prompts-for-narrative-and-personal-writing.html
• ↑ https://miamioh.edu/hcwe/handouts/narrative-essays/index.html
• ↑ https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-narrative-essay
• ↑ https://crk.umn.edu/units/writing-center/how-revise-drafts

About This Article

To write a narrative essay, start by choosing an interesting personal story from your life to write about. Try to connect your story to a broader theme or topic so your essay has more substance. Then, write out your story in the past tense using the first person point of view. As you write your story, use vivid details to describe the setting and characters so readers are able to visualize what you're writing. Once you've written your essay, read it several times and make sure you've illustrated your theme or topic. To learn more from our Professor of English co-author, like how to write scenes and analyses, keep reading the article! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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What is a Narrative Essay? How to Write It (with Examples)

Narrative essays are a type of storytelling in which writers weave a personal experience into words to create a fascinating and engaging narrative for readers. A narrative essay explains a story from the author’s point of view to share a lesson or memory with the reader. Narrative essays, like descriptive essays , employ figurative language to depict the subject in a vivid and creative manner to leave a lasting impact on the readers’ minds. In this article, we explore the definition of narrative essays, list the key elements to be included, and provide tips on how to craft a narrative that captivates your audience.

Table of Contents

What is a narrative essay, choosing narrative essay topics, key elements in a narrative essay, creating a narrative essay outline, types of narrative essays, the pre-writing stage, the writing stage, the editing stage, narrative essay example, frequently asked questions.

Narrative essays are often based on one’s personal experience which allows the author to express himself/herself in compelling ways for the reader. They employ storytelling elements to convey the plot and captivate the reader while disclosing the story’s theme or purpose. The author must always have a purpose or theme in mind when writing a narrative essay. These essays may be assigned to high school students to assess their ability to create captivating stories based on personal experiences, or they may be required as part of a college application to assess the applicant’s personal traits. Narrative essays might be based on true events with minor tweaks for dramatic purposes, or they can be adapted from a fictional scenario. Whatever the case maybe, the goal is to tell a story, a good story!

In narrative essays, the emphasis is not so much on the narrative itself as it is on how you explain it. Narrative essay topics cover a range of experiences, from noteworthy to mundane, but when storytelling elements are used well, even a simple account can have weight. Notably, the skills required for narrative writing differ significantly from those needed for formal academic essays, and we will delve deeper into this in the next section.

You can talk about any narrative, but consider whether it is fascinating enough, has enough twists and turns, or teaches a lesson (It’s a plus if the story contains an unexpected twist at the end). The potential topics for a narrative essay are limitless—a triumphant story, a brief moment of introspection, or a voyage of self-discovery. These essays provide writers with the opportunity to share a fragment of their lives with the audience, enriching both the writer’s and the reader’s experiences. Narrative essay examples could be a write-up on “What has been your biggest achievement in life so far and what did it teach you?” or “Describe your toughest experience and how you dealt with it?”.

While narrative essays allow you to be creative with your ideas, language, and format, they must include some key components to convey the story clearly, create engaging content and build reader interest. Follow these guidelines when drafting your essay:   

• Tell your story using the first person to engage users.
• Use sufficient sensory information and figurative language.
• Follow an organized framework so the story flows chronologically.
• Include interesting plot components that add to the narrative.
• Ensure clear language without grammar, spelling, or word choice errors.

Narrative essay outlines serve as the foundational structure for essay composition, acting as a framework to organize thoughts and ideas prior to the writing process. These outlines provide writers with a means to summarize the story, and help in formulating the introduction and conclusion sections and defining the narrative’s trajectory.

Unlike conventional essays that strictly adhere to the five-paragraph structure, narrative essays allow for more flexibility as the organization is dictated by the flow of the story. The outline typically encompasses general details about the events, granting writers the option to prioritize writing the body sections first while deferring the introduction until later stages of the writing process. This approach allows for a more organic and fluid writing process. If you’re wondering how to start writing a narrative essay outline, here is a sample designed to ensure a compelling and coherent narrative:

Introduction

• Hook/Opening line: The introduction should have an opening/hook sentence that is a captivating quote, question, or anecdote that grabs the reader’s attention.
• Background: Briefly introduce the setting, time, tone, and main characters.
• Thesis statement: State clearly the main theme or lesson acquired from the experience.
• Event 1 (according to occurrence): Describe the first major event in detail. Introduce the primary characters and set the story context; include sensory elements to enrich the narrative and give the characters depth and enthusiasm.
• Event 2: Ensure a smooth transition from one event to the next. Continue with the second event in the narrative. For more oomph, use suspense or excitement, or leave the plot with cliffhanger endings. Concentrate on developing your characters and their relationships, using dialog to bring the story to life.
• Event 3: If there was a twist and suspense, this episode should introduce the climax or resolve the story. Keep the narrative flowing by connecting events logically and conveying the feelings and reactions of the characters.
• Summarize the plot: Provide a concise recap of the main events within the narrative essay. Highlight the key moments that contribute to the development of the storyline. Offer personal reflections on the significance of the experiences shared, emphasizing the lasting impact they had on the narrator. End the story with a clincher; a powerful and thought-provoking sentence that encapsulates the essence of the narrative. As a bonus, aim to leave the reader with a memorable statement or quote that enhances the overall impact of the narrative. This should linger in the reader’s mind, providing a satisfying and resonant conclusion to the essay.

There are several types of narrative essays, each with their own unique traits. Some narrative essay examples are presented in the table below.

How to write a narrative essay: Step-by-step guide

A narrative essay might be inspired by personal experiences, stories, or even imaginary scenarios that resonate with readers, immersing them in the imaginative world you have created with your words. Here’s an easy step-by-step guide on how to write a narrative essay.

• Select the topic of your narrative

If no prompt is provided, the first step is to choose a topic to write about. Think about personal experiences that could be given an interesting twist. Readers are more likely to like a tale if it contains aspects of humor, surprising twists, and an out-of-the-box climax. Try to plan out such subjects and consider whether you have enough information on the topic and whether it meets the criteria of being funny/inspiring, with nice characters/plot lines, and an exciting climax. Also consider the tone as well as any stylistic features (such as metaphors or foreshadowing) to be used. While these stylistic choices can be changed later, sketching these ideas early on helps you give your essay a direction to start.

• Create a framework for your essay

Once you have decided on your topic, create an outline for your narrative essay. An outline is a framework that guides your ideas while you write your narrative essay to keep you on track. It can help with smooth transitions between sections when you are stuck and don’t know how to continue the story. It provides you with an anchor to attach and return to, reminding you of why you started in the first place and why the story matters.

• Compile your first draft

A perfect story and outline do not work until you start writing the draft and breathe life into it with your words. Use your newly constructed outline to sketch out distinct sections of your narrative essay while applying numerous linguistic methods at your disposal. Unlike academic essays, narrative essays allow artistic freedom and leeway for originality so don’t stop yourself from expressing your thoughts. However, take care not to overuse linguistic devices, it’s best to maintain a healthy balance to ensure readability and flow.

• Use a first-person point of view

One of the most appealing aspects of narrative essays is that traditional academic writing rules do not apply, and the narration is usually done in the first person. You can use first person pronouns such as I and me while narrating different scenarios. Be wary of overly using these as they can suggest lack of proper diction.

• Use storytelling or creative language

You can employ storytelling tactics and linguistic tools used in fiction or creative writing, such as metaphors, similes, and foreshadowing, to communicate various themes. The use of figurative language, dialogue, and suspense is encouraged in narrative essays.

• Follow a format to stay organized

There’s no fixed format for narrative essays, but following a loose format when writing helps in organizing one’s thoughts. For example, in the introduction part, underline the importance of creating a narrative essay, and then reaffirm it in the concluding paragraph. Organize your story chronologically so that the reader can follow along and make sense of the story.

• Reread, revise, and edit

Proofreading and editing are critical components of creating a narrative essay, but it can be easy to become weighed down by the details at this stage. Taking a break from your manuscript before diving into the editing process is a wise practice. Stepping away for a day or two, or even just a few hours, provides valuable time to enhance the plot and address any grammatical issues that may need correction. This period of distance allows for a fresh perspective, enabling you to approach the editing phase with renewed clarity and a more discerning eye.

One suggestion is to reconsider the goals you set out to cover when you started the topic. Ask yourself these questions:

• Is there a distinct beginning and end to your story?
• Does your essay have a topic, a memory, or a lesson to teach?
• Does the tone of the essay match the intended mood?

Now, while keeping these things in mind, modify and proofread your essay. You can use online grammar checkers and paraphrase tools such as Paperpal to smooth out any rough spots before submitting it for publication or submission.

It is recommended to edit your essay in the order it was written; here are some useful tips:

• Revise the introduction

After crafting your narrative essay, review the introduction to ensure it harmonizes with the developed narrative. Confirm that it adeptly introduces the story and aligns seamlessly with the conclusion.

• Revise the conclusion and polish the essay

The conclusion should be the final element edited to ensure coherence and harmony in the entire narrative. It must reinforce the central theme or lesson outlined initially.

• Revise and refine the entire article

The last step involves refining the article for consistent tone, style, and tense as well as correct language, grammar, punctuation, and clarity. Seeking feedback from a mentor or colleague can offer an invaluable external perspective at this stage.

Narrative essays are true accounts of the writer’s personal experiences, conveyed in figurative language for sensory appeal. Some narrative essay topic examples include writing about an unforgettable experience, reflecting on mistakes, or achieving a goal. An example of a personal narrative essay is as follows:

Title: A Feline Odyssey: An Experience of Fostering Stray Kittens

Introduction:

It was a fine summer evening in the year 2022 when a soft meowing disrupted the tranquility of my terrace. Little did I know that this innocent symphony would lead to a heartwarming journey of compassion and companionship. Soon, there was a mama cat at my doorstep with four little kittens tucked behind her. They were the most unexpected visitors I had ever had.

The kittens, just fluffs of fur with barely open eyes, were a monument to life’s fragility. Their mother, a street-smart feline, had entrusted me with the care of her precious offspring. The responsibility was sudden and unexpected, yet there was an undeniable sense of purpose in the air , filling me with delight and enthusiasm.

As the days unfolded, my terrace transformed into a haven for the feline family. Cardboard boxes became makeshift cat shelters and my once solitary retreat was filled with purrs and soothing meows. The mother cat, Lily, who initially observ ed me from a safe distance, gradually began to trust my presence as I offered food and gentle strokes.

Fostering the kittens was a life-changing , enriching experience that taught me the true joy of giving as I cared for the felines. My problems slowly faded into the background as evenings were spent playing with the kittens. Sleepless nights turned into a symphony of contented purring, a lullaby filled with the warmth of trust and security . Although the kittens were identical, they grew up to have very distinct personalities, with Kuttu being the most curious and Bobo being the most coy . Every dawn ushered in a soothing ritual of nourishing these feline companions, while nights welcomed their playful antics — a daily nocturnal delight.

Conclusion:

As the kittens grew, so did the realization that our paths were destined to part. Finally, the day arrived when the feline family, now confident and self-reliant, bid farewell to my terrace. It was a bittersweet moment, filled with a sense of love and accomplishment and a tinge of sadness.

Fostering Kuttu, Coco, Lulu, and Bobo became one of the most transformative experiences of my life. Their arrival had brought unexpected joy, teaching me about compassion and our species’ ability to make a difference in the world through love and understanding. The terrace, once a quiet retreat, now bore the echoes of a feline symphony that had touched my heart in ways I could have never imagined.

The length of a narrative essay may vary, but it is typically a brief to moderate length piece. Generally, the essay contains an introductory paragraph, two to three body paragraphs (this number can vary), and a conclusion. The entire narrative essay could be as short as five paragraphs or much longer, depending on the assignment’s requirements or the writer’s preference.

You can write a narrative essay when you have a personal experience to share, or a story, or a series of events that you can tell in a creative and engaging way. Narrative essays are often assigned in academic settings as a form of writing that allows students to express themselves and showcase their storytelling skills. However, you can also write a narrative essay for personal reflection, entertainment, or to communicate a message.

A narrative essay usually follows a three-part structure: – Introduction (To set the stage for the story) – Body paragraphs (To describe sequence of events with details, descriptions, and dialogue) – Conclusion (To summarize the story and reflect on the significance)

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How to Write a Narrative Essay

Essay writing comes in many forms, not all of which require extensive research. One such form is the narrative essay, which blends personal storytelling with academic discussion. Authors of these essays use their own experiences to convey broader insights about life.

This genre offers writers a unique chance to connect with readers on a personal level. By sharing experiences and reflections, authors engage their audience emotionally while conveying important messages or lessons. In the following sections, our custom term paper writing experts will explore various aspects of narrative writing, from choosing a topic to effectively structuring your essay!

What Is a Narrative Essay

A narrative essay is a piece of writing that tells a story, often based on personal experiences. Unlike academic or journalistic writing, which sticks to facts and a formal style, narrative essays use a more creative approach. They aim to make a point or impart a lesson through personal stories. These essays are commonly assigned in high school or for college admissions. An effective narrative essay typically follows a chronological order of events and has three main traits:

• Has one main idea.
• Uses specific facts to explain that idea.
• Follows a clear order of events.

A narrative essay resembles short stories in structure, with vivid illustrations, plots, characters, and discussion. However, there are key differences. These essays are focused on a central theme or argument and conclude decisively, while short stories often have a more abstract moral or message.

A narrative essay is usually written in the first person and follows a standard structure with an introduction, body, and conclusion. Short stories, on the other hand, can take various formats.

What is the Purpose of a Narrative Essay

When tasked with writing, you might wonder what the exact purpose of a narrative essay is. Here are various scenarios where you might need to write one:

• School Assignments: Teachers often assign them to help students improve their writing and storytelling skills. Sharing personal experiences lets students get feedback and improve.
• Reflective Writing: They offer a chance to think about personal achievements. Whether it's winning an award or reaching a goal, writing about these experiences helps people understand their importance and share them with others. Meanwhile, if you wish to describe your life in greater depth, you might look at how to write an autobiography .
• Application Requirements: They're often needed for job, internship, or scholarship applications. These essays let applicants show their experiences and goals, standing out from others.
• Literary Analysis : In literature classes, you might write them to analyze stories or poems. You'll explore themes, characters, and how the story is told.
• Historical Reflection : In history or social studies, you'll use these essays to think about events in the past. By imagining the experiences of people in different times, you can understand history better.
• Cultural Exploration : These essays help you explore different cultures. In classes like anthropology or sociology, you might write about your own culture or learn about others by telling their stories.

How to Write a Narrative Essay in 5 Steps

Crafting a narrative essay is a whole different ball game compared to other school essays. Instead of analyzing topics, it's about sharing personal experiences through storytelling. By walking through a few easy steps below, you can turn your ideas into a gripping narrative. And, if sharing your personal stories is not your cup of tea, you can buy essays online from our expert writers, who will customize the paper to your particular writing style and tone.

Step 1: Start with a Topic Selection

When writing a narrative essay, start by choosing a topic that either relates to your own experiences or matches a given prompt. If there's a prompt, think about what it asks for and brainstorm ideas that fit.

As you brainstorm, write down key points or moments you want to include. Think about how each point fits into your essay's structure and if it meets any word count limits.

Consider the tone and style you want for your writing. Will it be reflective or humorous? Are there specific stylistic choices you want to use, like repeating phrases or leaving cliffhanger endings? These choices shape your narrative and keep your reader engaged. And, stay flexible as you explore ideas. You can always tweak your topic, tone, and style as you write.

Read more on Narrative Essay Topic to skip the brainstorming and choose a ready-made option!

Step 2: Make a Clear Outline

Once you've picked your topic, make a narrative essay outline. It acts as a roadmap for telling your story effectively. Identify the key points you want to cover, like important events or lessons learned, and assign each to a paragraph, ensuring a logical flow of ideas.

The outline will plan the progression of your narrative, letting you map out events and decide how much detail to give each point. For example, if you're writing about overcoming a challenge, your outline might have a paragraph for background, then paragraphs detailing your perseverance and the obstacles you faced. Finally, if you're wondering how to write an essay conclusion , you'll just summarize the experience and its lessons.

Step 3: Write Your Narrative Essay

Now, it's time to start writing a narrative essay! Use your outline as a guide, and write each section with clear and engaging language.

Remember, narrative essays are about expressing yourself creatively, so don't worry about sticking to formal academic writing rules. Focus on captivating your reader and bringing your story to life.

Tip 💡 Use first-person : Write from your perspective using pronouns like 'I' and 'me' to make your narrative essay personal and engaging.

Tip 💡 Employ storytelling techniques : Use techniques from fiction and creative nonfiction, like dialogue and symbolism, to enhance your narrative and engage readers.

Tip 💡 Show, don't tell : Instead of just stating facts, use vivid descriptions and sensory details to let the reader experience the story with you.

Tip 💡 Be authentic : Stay true to your own voice and experiences. Share your thoughts and feelings honestly to make your narrative essay genuine and relatable.

Step 4: Don't Forget to Revise

After finishing your essay, it's crucial to revise and refine it. But first, take a break after your first draft to return with fresh eyes and a clear mind. This is one of the most important tips for writing a narrative essay, making it easier to identify areas that need improvement.

When you return, read through your essay carefully to ensure logical flow and coherence. Check for any inconsistencies or gaps in the narrative and make revisions as needed to improve clarity. Pay attention to details such as tense, point of view, and narrative voice throughout your essay.

Step 5: Proofread Your Writing

As you consider ending a narrative essay, it's important to carefully proofread it for any remaining errors or typos. Pay attention to details such as formatting and citation style, if necessary. Sharing your essay with trusted friends, family, or teachers and seeking their feedback can provide valuable insights and help you identify areas for improvement that you may have overlooked. Based on the feedback received and your own observations during the revision process, make changes to strengthen the impact and effectiveness of your essay. Remain open to making significant changes if necessary to enhance the quality of your narrative.

Narrative Essay Format

The narrative essay format is crucial for captivating readers and creating memorable stories. Whether it's a personal essay or fiction, these guidelines will help you take readers on a journey, making them feel immersed in the action:

• Introduction : Set the scene and introduce the characters and setting. Use a hook to grab readers' attention.
• Plot : Have a clear beginning, middle, and end, with each part building on the last. Include a conflict or problem for the protagonist to overcome.
• Characters : Develop well-rounded characters with distinct personalities and motivations. Ensure the protagonist has a clear goal, and the antagonist provides a challenge.
• Setting : Describe the time and place effectively to set the mood and support the story's themes.
• Dialogue : Use realistic dialogue to reveal characters' traits and move the plot forward.
• Climax : Reach the highest point of tension or conflict, leading to resolution.
• Resolution : Provide a satisfying conclusion that ties up loose ends.

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Narrative Essay Examples

If you need inspiration for your next essay, check out these excellent samples from our essay writer . Use them as a guide to craft your own narrative, and let your unique voice and experiences shine.

Narrative Essay Example for College

College professors search for the following qualities in their students:

• the ability to adapt to different situations,
• the ability to solve problems creatively,
• and the ability to learn from mistakes.

Your work must demonstrate these qualities, regardless of whether your narrative paper is a college application essay or a class assignment. Additionally, you want to demonstrate your character and creativity. Describe a situation where you have encountered a problem, tell the story of how you came up with a unique approach to solving it, and connect it to your field of interest. The narrative can be exciting and informative if you present it in such fashion.

Narrative Essay Example for High School

High school is all about showing that you can make mature choices. You accept the consequences of your actions and retrieve valuable life lessons. Think of an event in which you believe your actions were exemplary and made an adult choice. A personal narrative essay example will showcase the best of your abilities. Finally, use other sources to help you get the best results possible. Try searching for a sample to see how others have approached it.

Final Recap

Now that you understand what a narrative essay is, you're likely eager to create a top-notch paper. So, let our team of skilled writers lend a hand! Our research paper writing service provides various professional services tailored to your specific needs. With flexible pricing and quick turnaround, you can be confident you're getting excellent value!

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What Is A Narrative Essay?

How to start a narrative essay, how to write a good narrative essay, related articles.

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How to write a narrative essay [Updated 2023]

A narrative essay is an opportunity to flex your creative muscles and craft a compelling story. In this blog post, we define what a narrative essay is and provide strategies and examples for writing one.

What is a narrative essay?

Similarly to a descriptive essay or a reflective essay, a narrative essay asks you to tell a story, rather than make an argument and present evidence. Most narrative essays describe a real, personal experience from your own life (for example, the story of your first big success).

Alternately, your narrative essay might focus on an imagined experience (for example, how your life would be if you had been born into different circumstances). While you don’t need to present a thesis statement or scholarly evidence, a narrative essay still needs to be well-structured and clearly organized so that the reader can follow your story.

When you might be asked to write a narrative essay

Although less popular than argumentative essays or expository essays, narrative essays are relatively common in high school and college writing classes.

The same techniques that you would use to write a college essay as part of a college or scholarship application are applicable to narrative essays, as well. In fact, the Common App that many students use to apply to multiple colleges asks you to submit a narrative essay.

How to choose a topic for a narrative essay

When you are asked to write a narrative essay, a topic may be assigned to you or you may be able to choose your own. With an assigned topic, the prompt will likely fall into one of two categories: specific or open-ended.

Examples of specific prompts:

• Write about the last vacation you took.
• Write about your final year of middle school.

Examples of open-ended prompts:

• Write about a time when you felt all hope was lost.
• Write about a brief, seemingly insignificant event that ended up having a big impact on your life.

A narrative essay tells a story and all good stories are centered on a conflict of some sort. Experiences with unexpected obstacles, twists, or turns make for much more compelling essays and reveal more about your character and views on life.

If you’re writing a narrative essay as part of an admissions application, remember that the people reviewing your essay will be looking at it to gain a sense of not just your writing ability, but who you are as a person.

In these cases, it’s wise to choose a topic and experience from your life that demonstrates the qualities that the prompt is looking for, such as resilience, perseverance, the ability to stay calm under pressure, etc.

It’s also important to remember that your choice of topic is just a starting point. Many students find that they arrive at new ideas and insights as they write their first draft, so the final form of your essay may have a different focus than the one you started with.

How to outline and format a narrative essay

Even though you’re not advancing an argument or proving a point of view, a narrative essay still needs to have a coherent structure. Your reader has to be able to follow you as you tell the story and to figure out the larger point that you’re making.

You’ll be evaluated on is your handling of the topic and how you structure your essay. Even though a narrative essay doesn’t use the same structure as other essay types, you should still sketch out a loose outline so you can tell your story in a clear and compelling way.

To outline a narrative essay, you’ll want to determine:

• how your story will start
• what points or specifics that you want to cover
• how your story will end
• what pace and tone you will use

In the vast majority of cases, a narrative essay should be written in the first-person, using “I.” Also, most narrative essays will follow typical formatting guidelines, so you should choose a readable font like Times New Roman in size 11 or 12. Double-space your paragraphs and use 1” margins.

To get your creative wheels turning, consider how your story compares to archetypes and famous historical and literary figures both past and present. Weave these comparisons into your essay to improve the quality of your writing and connect your personal experience to a larger context.

How to write a narrative essay

Writing a narrative essay can sometimes be a challenge for students who typically write argumentative essays or research papers in a formal, objective style. To give you a better sense of how you can write a narrative essay, here is a short example of an essay in response to the prompt, “Write about an experience that challenged your view of yourself.”

Narrative essay example

Even as a child, I always had what people might call a reserved personality. It was sometimes framed as a positive (“Sarah is a good listener”) and at other times it was put in less-than-admiring terms (“Sarah is withdrawn and not very talkative”). It was the latter kind of comments that caused me to see my introverted nature as a drawback and as something I should work to eliminate. That is, until I joined my high school’s student council.

The first paragraph, or introduction, sets up the context, establishing the situation and introducing the meaningful event upon which the essay will focus.

The other four students making up the council were very outspoken and enthusiastic. I enjoyed being around them, and I often agreed with their ideas. However, when it came to overhauling our school’s recycling plan, we butted heads. When I spoke up and offered a different point of view, one of my fellow student council members launched into a speech, advocating for her point of view. As her voice filled the room, I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. I wondered if I should try to match her tone, volume, and assertiveness as a way to be heard. But I just couldn’t do it—it’s not my way, and it never has been. For a fleeting moment, I felt defeated. But then, something in me shifted.

In this paragraph, the writer goes into greater depth about how her existing thinking brought her to this point.

I reminded myself that my view was valid and deserved to be heard. So I waited. I let my fellow council member speak her piece and when she was finished, I deliberately waited a few moments before calmly stating my case. I chose my words well, and I spoke them succinctly. Just because I’m not a big talker doesn’t mean I’m not a big thinker. I thought of the quotation “still waters run deep” and I tried to embody that. The effect on the room was palpable. People listened. And I hadn’t had to shout my point to be heard.

This paragraph demonstrates the turn in the story, the moment when everything changed. The use of the quotation “still waters run deep” imbues the story with a dash of poetry and emotion.

We eventually reached a compromise on the matter and concluded the student council meeting. Our council supervisor came to me afterward and said: “You handled that so well, with such grace and poise. I was very impressed.” Her words in that moment changed me. I realized that a bombastic nature isn't necessarily a powerful one. There is power in quiet, too. This experience taught me to view my reserved personality not as a character flaw, but as a strength.

The final paragraph, or conclusion, closes with a statement about the significance of this event and how it ended up changing the writer in a meaningful way.

Narrative essay writing tips

1. pick a meaningful story that has a conflict and a clear “moral.”.

If you’re able to choose your own topic, pick a story that has meaning and that reveals how you became the person your are today. In other words, write a narrative with a clear “moral” that you can connect with your main points.

2. Use an outline to arrange the structure of your story and organize your main points.

Although a narrative essay is different from argumentative essays, it’s still beneficial to construct an outline so that your story is well-structured and organized. Note how you want to start and end your story, and what points you want to make to tie everything together.

3. Be clear, concise, concrete, and correct in your writing.

You should use descriptive writing in your narrative essay, but don’t overdo it. Use clear, concise, and correct language and grammar throughout. Additionally, make concrete points that reinforce the main idea of your narrative.

4. Ask a friend or family member to proofread your essay.

No matter what kind of writing you’re doing, you should always plan to proofread and revise. To ensure that your narrative essay is coherent and interesting, ask a friend or family member to read over your paper. This is especially important if your essay is responding to a prompt. It helps to have another person check to make sure that you’ve fully responded to the prompt or question.

Frequently Asked Questions about narrative essays

A narrative essay, like any essay, has three main parts: an introduction, a body and a conclusion. Structuring and outlining your essay before you start writing will help you write a clear story that your readers can follow.

The first paragraph of your essay, or introduction, sets up the context, establishing the situation and introducing the meaningful event upon which the essay will focus.

In the vast majority of cases, a narrative essay should be written in the first-person, using “I.”

The 4 main types of essays are the argumentative essay, narrative essay, exploratory essay, and expository essay. You may be asked to write different types of essays at different points in your education.

Most narrative essays will be around five paragraphs, or more, depending on the topic and requirements. Make sure to check in with your instructor about the guidelines for your essay. If you’re writing a narrative essay for a college application, pay close attention to word or page count requirements.

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Narrative Essays

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What is a narrative essay?

When writing a narrative essay, one might think of it as telling a story. These essays are often anecdotal, experiential, and personal—allowing students to express themselves in a creative and, quite often, moving ways.

Here are some guidelines for writing a narrative essay.

• If written as a story, the essay should include all the parts of a story.

This means that you must include an introduction, plot, characters, setting, climax, and conclusion.

• When would a narrative essay not be written as a story?

A good example of this is when an instructor asks a student to write a book report. Obviously, this would not necessarily follow the pattern of a story and would focus on providing an informative narrative for the reader.

• The essay should have a purpose.

Make a point! Think of this as the thesis of your story. If there is no point to what you are narrating, why narrate it at all?

• The essay should be written from a clear point of view.

It is quite common for narrative essays to be written from the standpoint of the author; however, this is not the sole perspective to be considered. Creativity in narrative essays oftentimes manifests itself in the form of authorial perspective.

• Use clear and concise language throughout the essay.

Much like the descriptive essay, narrative essays are effective when the language is carefully, particularly, and artfully chosen. Use specific language to evoke specific emotions and senses in the reader.

• The use of the first person pronoun ‘I’ is welcomed.

Do not abuse this guideline! Though it is welcomed it is not necessary—nor should it be overused for lack of clearer diction.

• As always, be organized!

Have a clear introduction that sets the tone for the remainder of the essay. Do not leave the reader guessing about the purpose of your narrative. Remember, you are in control of the essay, so guide it where you desire (just make sure your audience can follow your lead).

How to Write a Narrative Essay: Essential Guide for Storytelling

Table of contents

• 1.1 The Narrative Essay and the Short Story: Key Differences
• 2.1 What Makes a Good Narrative Essay?
• 3 Elements of Narrative Essays
• 4.1 Types of Narrative Writing
• 5 The Length of a Narrative Essay
• 6.1 How Do You Start a Narrative Essay?
• 6.2 How to Choose an Essay Topic?
• 6.3 How to Format and Structure a Narrative Essay?
• 6.4 Narrative Essay Outline
• 6.5 Narrative Essay Thesis Statement

Essays come in many types , each with its own unique features. Some are descriptive in nature, and others can be more persuasive. In this guide, the focus is on the narrative essay. This is a particular type of work that involves the use of narration or telling a story.

We’ll give you a further explanation of what this type of essay is. Additionally, we’ll show you how to write a narrative essay so you’re more confident about writing your own. Our guide also covers the narrative format and the different essay types you can write.

A Narrative Essay Explained

To define this type of essay, we should explore what narrative writing is. This is a type of writing whose purpose is to tell the reader a story. It involves characters, settings, and a plot that gets resolved. If it’s fictional, everything’s made up. Novels are a good example of fictional narrative writing. On the other hand, if the writing is factual, everything is based on real-life events.

Academic assignments that involve narrative essay writing nearly always require you to write factual content. Therefore, the bulk of your work should be a true story whose details can be backed up by facts.

If you’re wondering how to write narrative writing, imagine you’re telling a story to someone you know. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The opening sets the scene, and the ending concludes everything. The middle consists of the story’s most important parts; it can be as short or long as you need. However long your narrative text is, you should remember that you’re telling a story,y and it should flow well.

Some students type into search engines ‘ Write my narrative essay ‘ and come across services like ours. We have a team of high-quality writers. They produce written work that students use to help them write their own assignments.

Specific Prompts

• Write about the time you met your best friend.
• Write a story about your first trip to the beach.

Open-ended Prompts

• Write about something you did that you are very happy about.
• Write a story about what you’d like your future life to be.

The Narrative Essay and the Short Story: Key Differences

This type of essay and the short story have some similarities and differences. It’s important to understand what structures the two have so your own piece of work sticks to the required format.

You’ll have to rely on facts when writing a narrative essay for a college or university assessment. Your writing should give the reader a clear summary of what happened. You’ll also have to stick to a word count, if there is one, and follow the general narrative essay structure that markers are looking for. A thesis statement in the opening section should summarise your paper’s key argument.

As for a short story, this is fictional, and what happens is the product of the writer’s imagination. It doesn’t require a thesis statement, and its structure is much more fluid than a narrative essay. There’s no set way to approach one and you can be as creative as you like with the content.

A Narrative Essay’s Aim

If you’re not sure how to start a narrative essay, ask yourself why you want to tell people this particular story; what’s your purpose in sharing it with others. When someone writes a story, no matter what genre it is, they want it to impact those who read it; they want their readers to react in a particular way. If someone writes a horror story, for example, their purpose will be to make their readers feel afraid and frightened.

You should want readers to be engaged with your story. The more closely someone reads your work, the more likely they will take it in and react to it. To make the story more compelling and effective, write it in the best way possible. This involves using the right language, having a clear structure, and making sure your writing is clear.

• Write about the moment you overcame your biggest concern.
• Write a story about your thoughts on what courage is.
• Write about a trip you will never forget.
• Write a story about starting a relationship.

What Makes a Good Narrative Essay?

A good narrative essay should draw readers in, tell them a story that leaves an impression on them and finish with a definitive conclusion. It includes all the familiar elements of a story without being as long as one. It should also let the reader know what you make of the story and your thoughts about it.

What’s also crucial is the structure and format of a narrative essay. These make your work presentable and readable.

Elements of Narrative Essays

Several key components, or elements, make up this type of essay. These include

• Plot: At its core, a narrative essay has all the elements of classic fiction: it contains an engaging plot and engaging characters with their motivations, dilemmas, and goals; it has rising action that leads to some kind of climax or resolution; and it ends with an overall message or lesson for the reader.
• Character: Characters in a narrative essay don’t have to be fully developed people – they can be abstract concepts such as fear or anger or even objects such as a vase of flowers. However, they must all have some personality trait that helps move the story forward and gives them dimension within the piece.
• Setting: Like any other piece of fiction, the setting is integral in developing suspense and tension in a narrative essay. It should add detail and context to the chosen topic while helping propel the plot by introducing obstacles that characters within the story must overcome.
• Theme: A narrative essay should have a core theme or message the writer intends to communicate. This can be either implicit or explicit, but it should always be relevant to the story and its characters.
• Dialogue: Dialogue adds depth to the characters and helps the reader better understand their motivations and personality. The dialogue should be realistic, appropriate for the context, and properly punctuated and formatted.
• Conflict: There needs to be some kind of conflict or tension between characters to drive them toward resolution in your narrative essay. This could include physical conflicts, such as fighting between two people, or psychological conflicts, such as inner turmoil over difficult decisions or moral quandaries.

Crafting a compelling narrative essay that effectively communicates your point and captivates the reader can be a valuable skill to acquire. If you’re struggling with the process, you can always seek the help of an essay writer from Papersowl.com. With their expertise and guidance, you can create an engaging narrative essay that shares your unique experiences and insights with the audience.

Common Narrative Essay Types

There are multiple types of narrative essays. Most college and university assignments require your work to be factual. Your work will be fictional for some courses, such as creative writing. You’ll find some of the main types below:

• Factual. When writing a factual (or nonfiction) narrative essay, you retell real-life events for others. You’ll look at evidence from one or more sources to put the story together.
• Fictional. For fictional narrative essays, you can be creative and develop any story you want. Since it’s for an academic assignment, it should still have some purpose and meaning.
• Autobiographical. An autobiographical essay involves writing down a story you’re directly involved in. This is a factual piece of academic writing where you’re sharing with the reader something you’ve experienced. If you want, you’ll use the first person and can inject your telling of the story with thoughts and opinions.
• Write about an experience that put you in danger.
• Write a story about a time when you discovered a secret.
• Write about a day you experienced that was unlike any other.
• Write a story about a memorable summer vacation.

Types of Narrative Writing

When thinking of how to start an essay for college, you should try to decide on the writing you’ll be using. Below are some types to consider:

• Linear. When taking a linear approach to the writing, you’ll describe the story’s events in the order they happened. One event will follow from the previous one and lead into the next one.
• Non-linear. Should you take a non-linear approach, you’ll tell the story’s events out of sequence. This may include flashbacks or even flashforwards.
• Quest. Some stories are a sequence of events and characters reacting to these. Others are more like a quest where a person actively tries to complete a goal, which becomes their entire purpose.
• Viewpoint. With a viewpoint type of narration, the main character narrates the events from their point of view. Instead of just about the plot, it’s just as much about the narrator’s opinions, ideas, and feelings.
• Descriptive. For this type of narrative writing, you should be very descriptive and use vivid details. Readers should be able to picture the story’s setting and visualize what the characters in it look like.

Your story should make sense, whatever type of narrative writing you choose. The paragraphs should connect in a clear and logical way. If you choose a non-linear style, the reader should be able to tell that the events aren’t in the right order.

If you’re stuck on how to write a narrative paragraph, remember that it should be concise. It should also connect with the one before and after it. Your work ideally won’t have any blocks of text that stand out or are separate from the rest of the writing. For your essay to read well, there should be links from one paragraph to the next.

If you still need help, buy an essay online safely from us. We’re a team of experienced writers who want to help students with their assignments by providing them with essays to use as examples.

The Length of a Narrative Essay

When it comes to writing a narrative essay, there’s no set length. The required word count will vary depending on who’s setting the work and what institution is running your course. Some narrative essays can be as short as 500 words, whereas others may have a few hundred more. Sometimes, your narrative essay guidelines may require at least 1,000 words.

You must stick to it if given a word count, e.g., 500-600 words. Without restriction, it’s up to you how long your work should be. An ideal narrative essay should be at least a few hundred words long. It should have a clear beginning and conclusion, with three or more body sections.

However long your assignment is, it should be direct and to the point. An essay that’s narrative should retell the critical points of a story without necessarily going into detail. You should only include the most important characters, locations, and events. By all means, have some descriptive language, but don’t overdo it.

Guidelines for Writing a Narrative Essay

If you’re wondering how to write a good narrative essay, we’ll cover some of the most important guidelines in this section. Follow these, and you should find your work much easier to approach and complete. Use our guidelines, and you should better understand how to write narrative essays.

How Do You Start a Narrative Essay?

First, you’ll receive a prompt from your lecturer/tutor. This is the instruction your lecturer/tutor gives you when setting the assignment. When you have this, you should start gathering ideas about your writing. Come up with a title – unless your essay has a set title – and consider how you will approach the story aspect of your writing.

When coming up with your story, think about how you would tell it to someone else. Break it down into a number of events that follow one another. When writing it, you should try to draw the reader in by using descriptive language and adding plenty of relevant details. The aim is to interest whoever’s reading your work but not to bore them. They should want to keep reading and find out the story’s conclusion.

Here are some prompts that you can use:

• Write about the best birthday party you had.
• Write a story about the first time you cooked a meal by yourself.
• Write about a life lesson you have learned.
• Write a story about your best childhood memory.

How to Choose an Essay Topic?

The topic you’ll be writing about will depend on your prompt. This can fall under two categories: specific and open-ended.

If you have a specific prompt, you will write about a particular event or series of events. If it’s an open-ended one, you don’t have to write about something specific and have more choice in your topic.

The number and range of narrative writing topics are endless. The benefit of having a specific prompt is that it’s easier to determine what you’ll be writing about. All you’ll have to do is think about what the prompt directs you toward and tell the story it asks of you.

If your prompt is open-ended, choosing a topic to write about can be tricky because there can be many possibilities. It would be best to settle on one that the reader will find interesting, engaging, and relevant.

• Write about an old friend you’ve lost touch with and why it happened.
• Write a story about your observation of a cowardly act.
• Write about a hobby you like.
• Write a story about the first time you took a trip abroad.

How to Format and Structure a Narrative Essay?

The structure of the narrative essay is straightforward. There are four key parts: the introduction, the thesis statement, the body, and the conclusion.

• The introduction provides the reader with an overview of your essay. The thesis statement is a brief summary of your work’s main points.
• The body is where you tell the story. After introducing your characters and establishing the setting, you’ll narrate the story’s events and move the plot forward. Most narrative essays have a minimum of three body paragraphs.
• The conclusion is where you bring the story’s plot to an end. You should also comment on it, explaining why it’s significant and what benefits it may have.

It’s important for you to stick to the standard structure of a narrative essay. Doing so helps you present the story in a logical way. It also makes your piece of writing easier to read.

As for the format of a narrative essay, this should be professional. The final work you submit should look like any other academic essay. The writing should have an appropriate font and size. As well as this, things like indentation, spacing, and paragraph sizing should all be consistent. Your narrative essay format is just as important as the content because academic submissions require certain standard formatting.

The exact type of narrative writing format you use will depend on your college or university. Some institutions will have a set formatting style that all academic writing submissions will have to follow.

Narrative Essay Outline

A narative essay outline is a general sort of plan that you’ll use to write your essay. When putting one together, you should think about the content of your work and how you will present this to the reader. It’s a good idea to consider the language you’ll be using, how long your sentences and paragraphs will be, how often you’ll use speech, and so on.

The introduction should do two things: catch the attention of the reader; make them want to continue reading. It should also intrigue them about your essay’s topic and what you have to say about it. Once you’ve written one, it’s a good idea to let others read it and see if it makes them want to find out more about your work.

The body is the bulk of your essay and is where most storytelling takes place. The first paragraph should set the scene, introduce at least one character and establish the basics of the plot. Over the next few paragraphs, you should develop everything you previously introduced. Once the reader is done with the body section, they should know your characters and plot quite well.

The conclusion is very important because it’s where you conclude the story and reflect on it. This final section should sum up what you’ve learned and how you want the story to affect others. It should also link back to your thesis statement in some way.

For more information and help with writing, read our narrative essay outline example article. This includes a full step-by-step guide that you may find useful.

Narrative Essay Thesis Statement

The thesis statement is a short sentence in the introduction that sums up what your essay is about. It gives the reader a clear idea of the paper’s key argument without revealing too much about the story. If you’re wondering how to structure a narrative essay, a rule of thumb is to place the thesis statement at the end of the introduction. This way, it naturally leads into the main part of your paper.

Here are some examples of a good thesis statement:

I have only one life and will use every opportunity to be happy.

Love has changed my whole life and made me a new person; here’s why.

Writing a good thesis statement is vital for any essay type. If yours reads well, it can help the reader engage with your work more. If you’re struggling to write a thesis statement, buy narrative essays online and see some examples from our team. Reading other people’s work, you’ll better understand how to write things yourself.

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A narrative essay is a type of essay that tells a story about a particular experience or event, often from the writer's own perspective. The purpose of a narrative essay is to engage the reader and create an emotional connection through a well-crafted storyline.

Today we will learn how to write a narrative essay fast and easy. This type of paper requires you to share your experiences in an entertaining and creative way. A writer has to tell the original story and make it interesting to the reader. This task is not that complicated if you know the key points and the logic of the text. In the present blog, we will learn how to write a truly powerful narrative paper starting from the initial concept and ending with a fabulous conclusion. So, let’s get down to business right away!  

What Is a Narrative Essay

According to narrative essay definition, it is a type of writing that requires telling a personal story. It can be either about your personal experiences, funny incident, or any other notable event. Teachers assign such tasks to test students' abilities in storytelling. Firstly, a good story has to be interesting for a potential reader. Secondly, it has to be understandable to the general audience. Finally, it has to follow the regular structure of essay . In many other regards, it can be very creative and even experimental. Unlike many other essay types, narrative essays are action-driven. The main goal is to tell the story in a creative way. In view of its purpose, a great essay requires the following elements:  

• An intriguing personal story to tell
• The right choice of words to highlight key points
• Good hook to get the reader’s attention
• Smooth flow and original style
• Truly valuable experience to share

A narrative essay is widely regarded as one of the most creative writing essay types. A writer can afford more expressive language and a more unusual style of writing. Use some metaphors, figurative language, dialog or bold examples. Also, the first-person perspective is appreciated in narrative writing. Which is not really typical for academic writing, as you probably know. However, it is not obligatory and you can tell a story from a third-person perspective as well.   You may need a step-by-step guide for  explanatory writing  for your future assignments. You will find it in our database.  

Narrative Essay Outline

A narrative essay structure is very similar to that of other academic papers. It features 3 major parts - introduction, body and conclusion. Regularly, this essay is about five paragraph essay long - one for intro, 3 paragraphs in body and one to sum up your thoughts.

• Introduction - introduces the story, explains the purpose of the story and attracts reader’s attention
• Body paragraph #1 - developing action, raising the tension
• Body paragraph #2 - the climax of the story
• Conclusion - in which way this story was cautionary and useful

However, this number of paragraphs is not fixed, and you can expand it if you want. Still, do not fill your essay with watery text, it will be regarded as a negative factor during the review.

How to Write a Narrative Essay Step by Step

Essay structure is an important thing to keep in mind when you are thinking over the outline of your future work. So it will be definitely helpful to see what it will be for the narrative essay format. So, let’s see how it should be done! 

How to Start a Narrative Essay

Narrative essay introduction is where you describe the setting, the characters and introduce the mood of the story. A good introduction always deserves a good hook in essay or even several good hooks. You can ask theoretical questions and outline the mystery that will be uncovered further in your story. Just like in other essay types, narrative essay thesis statements are featured in the intro section.

Thesis Statement

Many professional writers believe that a thesis statement is the first thing you need to come up when writing an essay. Your paper thesis always has to sum up the main points of your writing, so this writing tip actually makes sense. Make your working thesis clear, informative and short. The finest thesis can be no longer than a single sentence. Make it brief, attractive and meaningful. Sounds a bit mind-boggling? Buy personal narrative essay done for you from scratch to avoid any hassle.

Create Main Body

All the action in a good narrative paper happens in the body part. In most essays, you uncover your key points in the classic three body paragraphs. However, a more action-driven paper of this kind is more about facts, and emotions. That’s why it’s a rare essay type where your body part would probably require chronological order of narration. Think well about how to separate your story into logical segments and don’t get too much into detail. An essay is not about length but always about the quality of writing .

How to End a Narrative Essay

A narrative essay conclusion is very similar to any other paper ending. In this part, you sum up your experiences and the outcomes of the story. Indicate what exactly had changed in your life during its course. Because if nothing had changed, then it’s not an essay-worthy story after all. Feel free to use quotations and examples to compare your experience. A narrative essay is a metaphor-friendly and figurative language-friendly format. So don’t miss your chance to enrich your text with additional expression.  

Tips to Writing a Narrative Paper

Now, when you know how to write a personal narrative paper, you are almost there. However, there are also several tips that we wanted to give you to facilitate success. So, here they are:

• Read various personal narrative ideas .
• Choose the best story that you got - choice of the story is essential to the success.
• Think over how you spread facts and arguments along the paper.
• Write an introduction with a strong hook and clear thesis statement.
• Write an action-driven body part.
• Make sure your conclusion includes really valuable experiences and implications.
• Review and rewrite the parts that you don’t like.
• Proofread the text, use special tools to save your time and effort.

If you follow all the steps mentioned above, it will be much easier to maintain control over your writing and create a powerful text. Also, we have prepared several great writing tips. If you have some stylistic questions or you are puzzled about how reliable you need to be as a narrator, consider the following tips:  

• Alter the story a little if it will make it more entertaining. Don’t stick to the facts so hard.
• Write from a first-person perspective first. Change it if you want later.
• Be a reader-oriented writer, don’t make it too subjective and personal.
• Check out such texts by famous writers for inspiration.

This type of paper is a fun and creative form of academic writing. If you have enough time, you can easily enjoy this assignment and even learn something new about yourself. Just in case, a site that writes essays  would also do great for your GPA.

Narrative Essay Examples

A good narrative essay example may be hard to find. Luckily, we have prepared it for you in advance. It will help you understand the style and flow of narrative writing and give some inspiration for your own masterpiece. Check out the top-notch narrative essay sample below.

Narrative Essay: Bottom Line

Now you know how to write narrative essays. This type of paper is easy to write when you know the main aspects of it. So use this guide to make the essay writing process fast, interesting and fun! However, sometimes there is just not enough time to meet the deadlines. Many students face this issue on a daily basis looking for fast and practical solutions. Hiring a narrative writer is perhaps the optimal choice.

Our professional academic writing service may be a great idea! If you need some help with a paper, order a narrative essay or any other kind of academic writing from our finest writing team.  

FAQ about Narrative Essay

1. how to write a personal narrative essay.

A personal narrative essay is written from the first-person perspective. It should contain strong personal opinions and stories of the narrator. This type of writing is predominantly action-driven and narrates the writer’s personal experiences.

2. How to write a literacy narrative essay?

In a literacy narrative paper, you need to share your personal experience of language, reading and writing. In this paper type, the narrator has to detail the personal experiences and attitude towards language. It can be dedicated to a certain book, writer or part of the language.

3. How long is the narrative paper?

A regular narrative essay is between 500 and 1000 words. It features a standard 3-part, 5-paragraph paper structure.

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How to Write a Narrative Essay: A Stepwise Guide and Length

Guide to writing narrative essay

A narrative essay follows an argument based on your personal experience and molds it in the framework of a philosophical theme.

While narrating your account in an essay, use the following 5 steps. Be sure to use the first-person point of view. Even better, you should narrate your story creatively. It is a measure of your ability to express your past encounter in a compelling way.

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How to Write a Narrative Essay

In our essay writing guide , we wrote comprehensive steps that one can follow when writing his or her essay. However, for narratives, it can be different. Here are the steps to follow.

1. Brainstorm Ideas

It is vital to think and settle for the theme of your essay. The author should settle for incidents and begin to process the details creatively.

In some cases, your instructor may provide the theme, or else, you have to develop it from scratch.

Once you select a story based on your memory, develop facts to weave a story concerning such an incidence.

As you recollect your memory, pay attention to all minute details.

Typically, the narrative should produce a huge impression on you. It should be a memorable event that brought a life-changing experience to you. After this mind-mapping process, collect enough materials to begin writing.

2. Create an Outline

Before you begin to write your essay, create an outline to act as your framework for your ideas. The outline helps you to remain focused on your theme. Furthermore, it is a time-saving experience against any distractions.  

Also, the outline guards the flow of your narration to remain lively and effortless to comprehend. Better yet, it places a limit on how far you can capture your points so that you stay within your plan and deliver the piece on time.

Typically, a narrative essay uses a basic structure of an introduction, the body, and the conclusion. Let the outline be the template of your essay. After creating the outline, cross-verify it to prove if you are adhering to the storyline.

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3. Write Your First Draft

It is great to start your first paragraph with a hook. Draw the reader’s attention with strong opening sentences. Keep in mind that you should maintain the first person narrative because it involves the reader in the text to make it interesting. Many people get interested in hearing other people’s stories.

Ensure that you do not forget or omit relevant details within the story. You should paint a true picture by describing small details of that particular topic. Let your narration be inviting for the reader to follow your story well.

Most importantly, let the language of your narration ooze out the dynamism of great word choice. Such helps you in conveying the information and bringing out the outcome of the characters well.

Even better, you can use sensory details and other descriptions. You can focus on things such as how it smelt, tasted, or sounded. Describe the moments in the narrative until your audience gets immersed in the story.

Move through the events chronologically. Avoid jumping into different moments from the past to present then past within the same paragraph. Let the story flow from one moment to the next to allow the readers to follow your story well.

4. End with a Takeaway

Finish your narrative essay with an analysis of events or a reflection. Come up with a moral that readers should know based on your encounter in the story.

Alternatively, leave the reader with a takeaway thought, which illustrates the kind of lessons you drew from the experience.

5. Revise and Proofread

The best practice is to read every word aloud to yourself and listen how it sounds.

Take note of awkward or unclear sentences. Underline them so that you can edit using better wording and or phrases.

Alternatively, read it to a friend and let him listen to how the story sounds for unbiased feedback.

As a polishing procedure, present this narrative to others to read. You can ask those questions about the tone, flow, and style of your piece. Let them confess to you if the narrative is engaging, detailed, and personal.

You should tolerate constructive criticism which is how to strengthen your narrative.

As part of the polishing procedure, read through the narrative to eliminate any spelling mistakes, punctuation, and grammatical errors. Since personal narratives are short, edit them to the suitable word count. If you are writing your essay for class, then ensure that you attain the current length as guided by the instructions.

After proofreading, be sure that you delivered the theme of your story. Countercheck if you established a relationship between your experience and the theme or not.

The right narrative essay should not be where the audience finds it challenging to decode the text. It should be clear by leaving no room for doubt.

How Long is a Narrative Essay?

A good narrative essay is at least 2 pages in length and as much as tens of pages. The length depends on the given instructions. However, a good narrative essay is between 500 to 1000 words. As the author, you should modify your blocks to fit into your word count. You can still rivet the essay by adding dialogues to it.

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What Determines the Length of Narrative Essays?

Instructions

One of the things that a writer has to take into account is the instructions from your professor or tutor.

Before you start to write your narrative essay, it is vital to know what the instructions say about the word count or the length.

Normally, a narrative essay does not have to be like others. They are short to the tune of five pages. Some instructions do not indicate the number of words to use in this case.

If that part is open, then seek some clarifications from your tutor. However, if you are sticking to standard rules, then never exceed five pages.                       

Amount of Details

If your story captures many details, it becomes challenging to resist the temptation of writing a longer essay. That can be evident especially when you believe every detail is vital to make your story captivating.

When you have more to tell, learn to shorten your paragraphs and stick to the five-page rule. Even so, you can shorten it without altering the flow of your story.

On the contrary, if you had minimal details to use to explain your experience in a personal essay, it means that you will have a short narrative essay.

Being a short narrative should not sacrifice the quality of your story. Let it be interesting and engaging to help the reader draw some meaningful lessons out of it.

The topic plays a critical role in determining the length of the essay. If you choose an interesting topic, chances are high that you will write a slightly long essay.

Even better, you will have much to tell hence failing to resist the urge to share as many details as possible. If you realize that you exceeded the word count, you should edit your story to be within the acceptable limit.

Besides, if you are tackling a boring topic, it may affect the flow of your story hence causing the author to summarize it within fewer pages. In any case, let your story lie within the right word count.

Experience Level

Some people have a great writing talent than others. If you are an experienced author, you can still describe an event in many words creatively.

You can paint scenes that grab the reader’s attention to glue to your story. Such a skill may tempt you to write a longer essay than what a beginner or an average writer would do.

On the contrary, if you are an inexperienced writer, chances are that you will struggle with word choice. You will lack enough words to express yourself even if you have an interesting story to pass across.

When not handling complex essays and academic writing tasks, Josh is busy advising students on how to pass assignments. In spare time, he loves playing football or walking with his dog around the park.

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Do you want to create a perfect narrative essay but need help figuring out how to do it? Please be assured that we have your back. To learn all you want to know about writing a perfect narrative essay, read this article.

In a narrative essay, you deliver a message while also telling a tale, often about a personal event. Therefore, the narrative serves two purposes: to entertain the audience and to highlight the significance of the experience. Essentially, narrative writing is like writing a story. A narrative can be either fiction or nonfiction, or it can lie somewhere in the middle, such as in the form of historical fiction, theatrical retellings of real-world events, or semi-autobiographical stories. A piece is narrative writing if it delivers a story using a narrative structure.

Essentially, writing a narrative is writing a story. Writers communicate their point of view chronologically by using a narrator style. There are various timelines and flashbacks. Essays, fairy tales, autobiographies, and news articles are a few common examples of narrative writing.

Table of Contents

What is a narrative essay for?

You may think about the reason your teacher assigned you a narrative essay. Narrative essay subjects might range from significant to insignificant. The way you convey the narrative, rather than the story itself, is usually more important.

You can demonstrate your ability to tell a story engagingly and straightforwardly by writing a narrative essay. You must consider the beginning and end of your story as well as how to tell it with engaging vocabulary and satisfactory pacing.

These abilities differ significantly from those required for conventional academic writing. For instance, it is recommended to utilise the first person in narrative essays as well as dialogue, figurative language, and suspense.

Types of narrative writing

There are multiple ways to write a narrative. The right narrative for your essay just depends on your goals for the article you are writing.

Linear narrative

In a linear narrative, the events of a story are revealed chronologically. The majority of stories in novels, movies, TV shows, and other forms of media are linear. Each scene in a linear story is followed by the one that has the most sense. There may be a gap between scenes, such as when the third chapter of a book picks up two years after the events of the second chapter.

The quest narrative is a particular kind of linear narrative that you might be familiar with. The quest of a character to accomplish a goal is the subject of different storytelling styles. This quest frequently entails going to a distant location and facing challenges in order to succeed.

The historical narrative is yet another distinct category of linear narrative that you may have come across. A historical narrative tells the story of a real event or series of events using a linear timeline.

Nonlinear narrative

A nonlinear narrative delivers the events of its story in a different order than a linear narrative does. We use a nonlinear description in our writing to stress our characters’ feelings and viewpoints on the story’s events. Additionally, you can draw attention to significant occurrences and incorporate scenes with crucial facts that otherwise wouldn’t fit into your story’s timeline.

Viewpoint narrative

In a viewpoint narrative, the emphasis is on the narrator’s interpretation of the story’s events. These stories tend to focus more on the characters than the storyline. You can explore different parts of your protagonist’s personality and let your readers in on their thoughts by using a narrative viewpoint. This kind of narrative works well for personal essays and stories with themes of perspective and personal development.

Descriptive narrative

A descriptive narrative focuses on the appearance and sensation of the story’s setting, characters, and objects. A viewpoint narrative seeks to establish immersion in a character’s inner world, a constrained perspective on the story’s world; this is different from how it aims to generate total immersion in the story’s world.

To discuss the subject you are addressing in a descriptive essay, you will employ descriptive narrative strategies. These include similes, personification, and the use of vivid imagery to introduce particular objects and concepts.

The length of a narrative essay

There is no predetermined length for narrative essays. Depending on who is assigning the work and which organisation is running the course, a different word count may be necessary. Some story essays are only 500 words long, while others may be several hundred words long. Your story essay rules may occasionally stipulate that you need at least 1,000 words.

If a word count is specified, such as 500–600 words, you must adhere to it. If there is no time limit, the length of your job is entirely up to you. At least a few hundred words should be included in an excellent narrative essay. It should have three or more body paragraphs and a distinct introduction and conclusion.

Your task should be concise and direct, regardless of how long it is. A narrative essay should summarise the main ideas of a story without necessarily going into great detail. Only the most significant individuals, settings, and events should be included. Don’t be afraid to use some descriptive language, but don’t use it excessively.

How to choose a topic for a narrative essay

The subjects for narrative essays can cover practically any facet of human existence, making them quite versatile. You can be given a topic to write about when asked to write a narrative essay, or you might be given the option to choose one yourself.

There are two types of prompts for topics that have been assigned: Specific and Open-minded.

Examples of specific prompts:

• Write about your most recent vacation.
• Write about your middle school senior year.

Examples of open-minded prompts:

• Describe an occasion when you completely believed that all hopes were lost.
• Describe a quick, seemingly unimportant event that ultimately had a huge impact on your life.

It is important to remember that a narrative essay is about telling a tale, and all great stories have a conflict of some kind at their core. Be careful to choose a topic that isn’t merely a routine occasion when everything turns out as planned. Unexpected challenges, detours, and turns make for much more fascinating writings and show more about personality and worldview.

Always keep in mind that when writing a narrative essay specifically for an admissions application, the readers will be looking at it to get a feel of both your writing skills and who you are as a person. In these situations, it’s a good idea to pick a subject and an experience from your life that exemplifies the traits the prompt is looking for, such as resiliency, perseverance, the capacity to remain composed under pressure, etc.

Additionally, it’s critical to keep in mind that your topic selection is just the beginning. Since many students discover new ideas and insights while writing their first drafts, your essay’s ultimate shape may have a very different focus from the one you originally started with.

How to outline and format a narrative essay

A narrative essay still requires a cohesive framework even though you’re not making a claim or demonstrating a point of view. As you narrate the story, your reader must be able to follow along and understand the bigger point you’re trying to convey.

Your handling of the subject and the organisation of your essay will be heavily weighed in your evaluation. Even if you’re the type of writer who prefers to “go with the flow” and follow the tale as it develops, you might still want to create a rough outline to give yourself some direction so you tell your story clearly and effectively.

The most fundamental markers to determine while structuring your narrative essay are the beginning and end of your story, as well as how many significant moments will occur in between. Pace and tone should also be taken into account.

A narrative essay should almost always be written in the first person, which is frequently a welcome change for students who are used to writing from an objective third-person perspective.

It’s also a good idea to seek opportunities to use rhetorical flourishes, like metaphor and analogy, that improve the expressiveness and originality of your essay when you’re outlining and structuring it. Try thinking about how your narrative connects to archetypes and well-known historical and literary figures from both the past and the present to get your creative juices flowing. To write better and connect your personal experience to a broader perspective, include these parallels in your essay.

Characteristics of narrative writing

Narrative writing is no different from other types of writing in that it has its own distinctive qualities. The following essential elements are present in most narratives.

• Descriptive language: Instead of explaining facts directly, this language stirs up emotions. Onomatopoeia, personification, similes, and metaphors are examples of illustrative language devices.
• Nearly every story requires a protagonist among the characters. The character whose tale is being recounted as they strive to achieve a goal or overcome a struggle is known as the protagonist, also known as the main character.
• The adversary is a character that appears in almost every story. The antagonist is just the person or thing the protagonist must face to overcome hurdles; they are not necessarily the “bad guy.” An adversary can be a character, a natural force, the protagonist’s society, or even a feature of the protagonist’s psyche in many stories.
• Plot: The storyline is the sequence of actions that take place in your story. A storyline might be straightforward with just one or two key events, or it can be intricate and have multiple layers.
• The beginning: The reader and your writing meet at this point. It’s important to get their attention right away.
• The middle: The action occurs amid your tale or essay. Here, your protagonist encounters one or more challenges and reaches the story’s climax, which occurs when the protagonist either succeeds or fails in achieving their goal and the narrative shifts focus to the descending action.
• The end: After the narrative’s climax, the conclusion ties up any unfinished business, satisfies any unanswered questions, and prepares the protagonist for life after the events of the story.

Cheat code for awesome narrative writing

Use your narrative to build characters.

When you write in the first-person view, one of the characters in your story serves as the narrator. Through their word choice, point of view, and responses to the events in the story, use this position as an opportunity to develop their character. Experiment with things like an unreliable narrator, a limited point of view, or alternate narrators (which offers the reader a sample of each character’s perspective). Your narrator doesn’t have to be omniscient, trustworthy, or even the story’s only narrator.

Listen to how people tell stories

The next time, when a friend tells you a story about their day, pay close attention to both the story itself and the way they deliver it. Pay attention to the forward and backward jumps, asides, tangents, and changes in your friend’s volume and animation intensity throughout the narrative. You’ll note that some passages are “fast-forwarded,” while others diverge from the narrative’s logical, linear flow and use more evocative, abstract language. 

Keep these storytelling ebbs and flows in mind while you compose your next narrative piece. Consider the instances in the story where your friends slowed down to create tension or changed their time to reflect their emotions. Through deliberate word selection and timing, you can achieve these effects in your writing.

Mix and match narrative styles

Even when writing a linear story, you can still include descriptive or perspective aspects. If the nonlinear essay you’re writing about the five finest summers of your life requires a passage describing everything you experienced while at camp, then write that passage.

Permit yourself to have fun. Create your own onomatopoeic phrases. Consider two separate characters and describe the same structure from each one’s point of view. Then, record the characters’ exchanges with one another concerning the structure. See where you wind up by following your stream of mind as far as it will take you.

Freewriting is the term for this creative writing style. It’s a wonderful method to develop your imagination and build a universe on paper. The writing you create during a freewriting session is the raw material you’ll mould and publish into a coherent narrative later; there are no structure rules and there’s no need to worry about grammar. Permit yourself to play for the time being.

Essential elements of narrative essays

Let’s first review the fundamentals. Argumentative essays, descriptive essays, expository essays, and narrative essays are the four primary forms of essays.

In-depth stories are typically told in narrative essays from the perspective of one individual. A narrative essay uses every component of a story, including a beginning, middle, and end as well as a plot, characters, setting, and climax, to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion.

The storyline, which is described in sufficient depth to develop to a climax, is the main emphasis of a narrative essay. This is how:

• Typically, it is told in chronological order.
• It always serves a reason. This is frequently indicated in your thesis statement in the opening paragraph.
• There might be a discussion. Here are the specifics of the hope discourse that should be punctuated for more information.
• The author engages the reader with vivid descriptions and sensory details. All of these specifics are somehow related to the writer’s main argument.

Quick tips on writing a narrative essay

Keep in mind that you are sharing sensory and emotional details with the reader when writing a narrative essay.

• Your words need to be vivid and colourful to help the reader feel the same feelings that you felt.
• Whatever point you are making, elements of the story need to be supported. And, you need to remember to refer to that point in the first sentence.
• As in any story, you should incorporate conflict and sequence.
• You may use flashbacks and flash forwards to help the story build toward a climax.
• Although it is typically written in the first person, it is also possible to employ the third-person viewpoint.

You can flex your creativity and tell a brilliant story in a narrative essay. This type of essay is often a welcome departure for students who are used to writing persuasive or expository essays.

Explore the basics of the narrative essay and ace your narrative writing when you might be asked to write one.

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What is a Narrative Essay — Examples, Format & Techniques

I was in the Amazon jungle the first time I wrote a narrative essay, enlightened and enraptured by the influence of ayahuasca. That’s not true. I’ve never been to South America nor have I ever taken ayahuasca. The purpose of that opening is to show how to craft a narrative essay intro — hook, line, and sinker. Narrative essays rely on hooking the reader, and enticing them to read on. But what is a narrative essay? We’re going to break down everything you need to know about these essays — definition, examples, tips and tricks included. By the end, you’ll be ready to craft your own narrative essay for school or for publication.

What’s a Narrative Essay?

First, let’s define narrative essay.

Narrative essays share a lot of similarities with personal essays, but whereas the former can be fictional or non-fictional, the latter are strictly non-fictional. The goal of the narrative essay is to use established storytelling techniques, like theme , conflict , and irony , in a uniquely personal way.

The responsibility of the narrative essayist is to make the reader feel connected to their story, regardless of the topic. This next video explores how writers can use structural elements and techniques to better engage their readers. 

Personal Narrative Essay Examples With Essay Pro

Narrative essays rely on tried and true structure components, including:

• First-person POV
• Personal inspiration
• Focus on a central theme

By keeping these major tenets in mind, you’ll be better prepared to recognize weaknesses and strengths in your own works.

NARRATIVE ESSAY DEFINITION

What is a narrative essay.

A narrative essay is a prose-written story that’s focused on the commentary of a central theme. Narrative essays are generally written in the first-person POV, and are usually about a topic that’s personal to the writer. Everything in these essays should take place in an established timeline, with a clear beginning, middle, and end. 

Famous Narrative Essay Examples

• Ticker to the Fair by David Foster Wallace
• After Life by Joan Didion
• Here is a Lesson in Creative Writing by Kurt Vonnegut

Narrative Writing Explained

How to start a narrative essay.

When you go to sleep at night, what do you think of? Flying squirrels? Lost loved ones? That time you called your teacher ‘mom’? Whatever it is, that’s what you need to write about. There’s a reason those ideas and moments have stuck with you over time. Your job is to figure out why.

Once you realize what makes a moment important to you, it’s your job to make it important to the reader too. In this next video, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker J. Christian Jensen explains the power of the personal narrative. 

Narrative Writing and the Personal Narrative Essay  •  Video by TEDx Talks

Anything and everything can be the topic of your essay. It could be as benign as a walk to school or as grandiose as a trip to the moon — so long as that narrative exists within reality. Give your thoughts and opinions on the matter too — don’t be afraid to say “this is what I think” so long as it’s supported by storytelling techniques. Remember, never limit yourself as a writer, just keep in mind that certain topics will be harder to make engaging than others.

Narrative Essay Outline

How to write a narrative essay.

First step, game plan. You’re going to want to map out the story from beginning to end, then mark major story beats in your document.

Like all stories, your narrative essay needs a clear beginning, middle, and end. Each section should generally conform to a specifically outlined structure. For reference, check out the outline below.

Narrative Essay Format  •  How to Write a Narrative Essay Step by Step

Make sure to reference back to this outline throughout the writing process to make sure you have all your major beats covered.

Purpose of narrative essay writing

Narrative essays give writers the ability to freely express themselves within the structure of a traditional story. Nearly all universities ask applicants to submit a narrative essay with their formal application. This is done for two reasons: they allow institutions to judge the linguistic and grammar capabilities of its applicants, as well as their raw creative side.

If you’re considering studying creative writing in an undergraduate or graduate program, then you’re going to write A LOT of narrative style essays. This process may seem indomitable; How am I supposed to write hundreds of pages about… me? But by the end, you’ll be a better writer and you’ll have a better understanding of yourself.

One thing that all successful essayists have in common is that they make radical, often defiant statements on the world at large. Think Ralph Waldo Emerson, Virginia Woolf, and Langston Hughes for example.

Being a professional essayist isn’t easy, and it’s near-impossible to be one who makes a lot of money. Many essayists work as professors, editors, and curriculum designers as well. 

This next video features the late, award-winning essayist Brian Doyle. He explains all the things you need to hear when thinking about writing a story.

Narrative Essay Examples “Lecture” via Boston University

We can learn a lot from the way Doyle “opens” his stories. My favorite is how he begins with the statement, “I met the Dalai Lama once.” How can we not be interested in learning more? 

This brings us all the way back to the beginning. Start with a hook, rattle off the line, then reel in the sinker. If you entice the reader, develop a personal plot, and finish with a resolute ending, you’ll have a lot of success in essay writing. 

 Up Next

Narrative essay topics.

We've curated a collection of narrative essay topics that will spark your creativity and bring your experiences to life. Dive into the rich tapestry of your memories, explore the unique threads of your life, and let your narrative unfold.

Up Next: Narrative Essay Topics →

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The Ultimate Narrative Essay Guide for Beginners

A narrative essay tells a story in chronological order, with an introduction that introduces the characters and sets the scene. Then a series of events leads to a climax or turning point, and finally a resolution or reflection on the experience.

Speaking of which, are you in sixes and sevens about narrative essays? Don’t worry this ultimate expert guide will wipe out all your doubts. So let’s get started.

Table of Contents

Everything You Need to Know About Narrative Essay

What is a narrative essay.

When you go through a narrative essay definition, you would know that a narrative essay purpose is to tell a story. It’s all about sharing an experience or event and is different from other types of essays because it’s more focused on how the event made you feel or what you learned from it, rather than just presenting facts or an argument. Let’s explore more details on this interesting write-up and get to know how to write a narrative essay.

Elements of a Narrative Essay

Here’s a breakdown of the key elements of a narrative essay:

A narrative essay has a beginning, middle, and end. It builds up tension and excitement and then wraps things up in a neat package.

Real people, including the writer, often feature in personal narratives. Details of the characters and their thoughts, feelings, and actions can help readers to relate to the tale.

It’s really important to know when and where something happened so we can get a good idea of the context. Going into detail about what it looks like helps the reader to really feel like they’re part of the story.

Conflict or Challenge 

A story in a narrative essay usually involves some kind of conflict or challenge that moves the plot along. It could be something inside the character, like a personal battle, or something from outside, like an issue they have to face in the world.

Theme or Message

A narrative essay isn’t just about recounting an event – it’s about showing the impact it had on you and what you took away from it. It’s an opportunity to share your thoughts and feelings about the experience, and how it changed your outlook.

Emotional Impact

The author is trying to make the story they’re telling relatable, engaging, and memorable by using language and storytelling to evoke feelings in whoever’s reading it.

Narrative essays let writers have a blast telling stories about their own lives. It’s an opportunity to share insights and impart wisdom, or just have some fun with the reader. Descriptive language, sensory details, dialogue, and a great narrative voice are all essentials for making the story come alive.

The Purpose of a Narrative Essay

A narrative essay is more than just a story – it’s a way to share a meaningful, engaging, and relatable experience with the reader. Includes:

Sharing Personal Experience

Narrative essays are a great way for writers to share their personal experiences, feelings, thoughts, and reflections. It’s an opportunity to connect with readers and make them feel something.

Entertainment and Engagement

The essay attempts to keep the reader interested by using descriptive language, storytelling elements, and a powerful voice. It attempts to pull them in and make them feel involved by creating suspense, mystery, or an emotional connection.

Conveying a Message or Insight

Narrative essays are more than just a story – they aim to teach you something. They usually have a moral lesson, a new understanding, or a realization about life that the author gained from the experience.

Building Empathy and Understanding

By telling their stories, people can give others insight into different perspectives, feelings, and situations. Sharing these tales can create compassion in the reader and help broaden their knowledge of different life experiences.

Inspiration and Motivation

Stories about personal struggles, successes, and transformations can be really encouraging to people who are going through similar situations. It can provide them with hope and guidance, and let them know that they’re not alone.

Reflecting on Life’s Significance

These essays usually make you think about the importance of certain moments in life or the impact of certain experiences. They make you look deep within yourself and ponder on the things you learned or how you changed because of those events.

Demonstrating Writing Skills

Coming up with a gripping narrative essay takes serious writing chops, like vivid descriptions, powerful language, timing, and organization. It’s an opportunity for writers to show off their story-telling abilities.

Preserving Personal History

Sometimes narrative essays are used to record experiences and special moments that have an emotional resonance. They can be used to preserve individual memories or for future generations to look back on.

Cultural and Societal Exploration

Personal stories can look at cultural or social aspects, giving us an insight into customs, opinions, or social interactions seen through someone’s own experience.

Format of a Narrative Essay

Narrative essays are quite flexible in terms of format, which allows the writer to tell a story in a creative and compelling way. Here’s a quick breakdown of the narrative essay format, along with some examples:

Introduction

Set the scene and introduce the story.

Engage the reader and establish the tone of the narrative.

Hook: Start with a captivating opening line to grab the reader’s attention. For instance:

Example:  “The scorching sun beat down on us as we trekked through the desert, our water supply dwindling.”

Background Information: Provide necessary context or background without giving away the entire story.

Example:  “It was the summer of 2015 when I embarked on a life-changing journey to…”

Thesis Statement or Narrative Purpose

Present the main idea or the central message of the essay.

Offer a glimpse of what the reader can expect from the narrative.

Thesis Statement: This isn’t as rigid as in other essays but can be a sentence summarizing the essence of the story.

Example:  “Little did I know, that seemingly ordinary hike would teach me invaluable lessons about resilience and friendship.”

Body Paragraphs

Present the sequence of events in chronological order.

Develop characters, setting, conflict, and resolution.

Story Progression: Describe events in the order they occurred, focusing on details that evoke emotions and create vivid imagery.

Example: Detail the trek through the desert, the challenges faced, interactions with fellow hikers, and the pivotal moments.

Character Development: Introduce characters and their roles in the story. Show their emotions, thoughts, and actions.

Example: Describe how each character reacted to the dwindling water supply and supported each other through adversity.

Dialogue and Interactions: Use dialogue to bring the story to life and reveal character personalities.

Example: “Sarah handed me her last bottle of water, saying, ‘We’re in this together.'”

Reach the peak of the story, the moment of highest tension or significance.

Turning Point: Highlight the most crucial moment or realization in the narrative.

Example:  “As the sun dipped below the horizon and hope seemed lost, a distant sound caught our attention—the rescue team’s helicopters.”

Provide closure to the story.

Reflect on the significance of the experience and its impact.

Reflection: Summarize the key lessons learned or insights gained from the experience.

Example: “That hike taught me the true meaning of resilience and the invaluable support of friendship in challenging times.”

Closing Thought: End with a memorable line that reinforces the narrative’s message or leaves a lasting impression.

Example: “As we boarded the helicopters, I knew this adventure would forever be etched in my heart.”

Example Summary:

Imagine a narrative about surviving a challenging hike through the desert, emphasizing the bonds formed and lessons learned. The narrative essay structure might look like starting with an engaging scene, narrating the hardships faced, showcasing the characters’ resilience, and culminating in a powerful realization about friendship and endurance.

Different Types of Narrative Essays

There are a bunch of different types of narrative essays – each one focuses on different elements of storytelling and has its own purpose. Here’s a breakdown of the narrative essay types and what they mean.

Personal Narrative

Description: Tells a personal story or experience from the writer’s life.

Purpose: Reflects on personal growth, lessons learned, or significant moments.

Example of Narrative Essay Types:

Topic: “The Day I Conquered My Fear of Public Speaking”

Focus: Details the experience, emotions, and eventual triumph over a fear of public speaking during a pivotal event.

Descriptive Narrative

Description: Emphasizes vivid details and sensory imagery.

Purpose: Creates a sensory experience, painting a vivid picture for the reader.

Topic: “A Walk Through the Enchanted Forest”

Focus: Paints a detailed picture of the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings experienced during a walk through a mystical forest.

Autobiographical Narrative

Description: Chronicles significant events or moments from the writer’s life.

Purpose: Provides insights into the writer’s life, experiences, and growth.

Topic: “Lessons from My Childhood: How My Grandmother Shaped Who I Am”

Focus: Explores pivotal moments and lessons learned from interactions with a significant family member.

Experiential Narrative

Description: Relays experiences beyond the writer’s personal life.

Purpose: Shares experiences, travels, or events from a broader perspective.

Topic: “Volunteering in a Remote Village: A Journey of Empathy”

Focus: Chronicles the writer’s volunteering experience, highlighting interactions with a community and personal growth.

Literary Narrative

Description: Incorporates literary elements like symbolism, allegory, or thematic explorations.

Purpose: Uses storytelling for deeper explorations of themes or concepts.

Topic: “The Symbolism of the Red Door: A Journey Through Change”

Focus: Uses a red door as a symbol, exploring its significance in the narrator’s life and the theme of transition.

Historical Narrative

Description: Recounts historical events or periods through a personal lens.

Purpose: Presents history through personal experiences or perspectives.

Topic: “A Grandfather’s Tales: Living Through the Great Depression”

Focus: Shares personal stories from a family member who lived through a historical era, offering insights into that period.

Digital or Multimedia Narrative

Description: Incorporates multimedia elements like images, videos, or audio to tell a story.

Purpose: Explores storytelling through various digital platforms or formats.

Topic: “A Travel Diary: Exploring Europe Through Vlogs”

Focus: Combines video clips, photos, and personal narration to document a travel experience.

How to Choose a Topic for Your Narrative Essay?

Selecting a compelling topic for your narrative essay is crucial as it sets the stage for your storytelling. Choosing a boring topic is one of the narrative essay mistakes to avoid . Here’s a detailed guide on how to choose the right topic:

Reflect on Personal Experiences

• Significant Moments:

Moments that had a profound impact on your life or shaped your perspective.

Example: A moment of triumph, overcoming a fear, a life-changing decision, or an unforgettable experience.

• Emotional Resonance:

Events that evoke strong emotions or feelings.

Example: Joy, fear, sadness, excitement, or moments of realization.

• Lessons Learned:

Experiences that taught you valuable lessons or brought about personal growth.

Example: Challenges that led to personal development, shifts in mindset, or newfound insights.

Explore Unique Perspectives

• Uncommon Experiences:

Unique or unconventional experiences that might captivate the reader’s interest.

Example: Unusual travels, interactions with different cultures, or uncommon hobbies.

• Different Points of View:

Stories from others’ perspectives that impacted you deeply.

Example: A family member’s story, a friend’s experience, or a historical event from a personal lens.

Focus on Specific Themes or Concepts

• Themes or Concepts of Interest:

Themes or ideas you want to explore through storytelling.

Example: Friendship, resilience, identity, cultural diversity, or personal transformation.

• Symbolism or Metaphor:

Using symbols or metaphors as the core of your narrative.

Example: Exploring the symbolism of an object or a place in relation to a broader theme.

Consider Your Audience and Purpose

• Relevance to Your Audience:

Topics that resonate with your audience’s interests or experiences.

Example: Choose a relatable theme or experience that your readers might connect with emotionally.

• Impact or Message:

What message or insight do you want to convey through your story?

Example: Choose a topic that aligns with the message or lesson you aim to impart to your readers.

Brainstorm and Evaluate Ideas

• Free Writing or Mind Mapping:

Process: Write down all potential ideas without filtering. Mind maps or free-writing exercises can help generate diverse ideas.

• Evaluate Feasibility:

The depth of the story, the availability of vivid details, and your personal connection to the topic.

Imagine you’re considering topics for a narrative essay. You reflect on your experiences and decide to explore the topic of “Overcoming Stage Fright: How a School Play Changed My Perspective.” This topic resonates because it involves a significant challenge you faced and the personal growth it brought about.

Narrative Essay Topics

50 easy narrative essay topics.

• Learning to Ride a Bike
• My First Day of School
• A Surprise Birthday Party
• The Day I Got Lost
• Visiting a Haunted House
• An Encounter with a Wild Animal
• My Favorite Childhood Toy
• The Best Vacation I Ever Had
• An Unforgettable Family Gathering
• Conquering a Fear of Heights
• A Special Gift I Received
• Moving to a New City
• The Most Memorable Meal
• Getting Caught in a Rainstorm
• An Act of Kindness I Witnessed
• The First Time I Cooked a Meal
• My Experience with a New Hobby
• The Day I Met My Best Friend
• A Hike in the Mountains
• Learning a New Language
• An Embarrassing Moment
• Dealing with a Bully
• My First Job Interview
• A Sporting Event I Attended
• The Scariest Dream I Had
• Helping a Stranger
• The Joy of Achieving a Goal
• A Road Trip Adventure
• Overcoming a Personal Challenge
• The Significance of a Family Tradition
• An Unusual Pet I Owned
• A Misunderstanding with a Friend
• Exploring an Abandoned Building
• My Favorite Book and Why
• The Impact of a Role Model
• A Cultural Celebration I Participated In
• A Valuable Lesson from a Teacher
• A Trip to the Zoo
• An Unplanned Adventure
• Volunteering Experience
• A Moment of Forgiveness
• A Decision I Regretted
• A Special Talent I Have
• The Importance of Family Traditions
• The Thrill of Performing on Stage
• A Moment of Sudden Inspiration
• The Meaning of Home
• Learning to Play a Musical Instrument
• A Childhood Memory at the Park
• Witnessing a Beautiful Sunset

Narrative Essay Topics for College Students

• Discovering a New Passion
• Overcoming Academic Challenges
• Navigating Cultural Differences
• Embracing Independence: Moving Away from Home
• Exploring Career Aspirations
• Coping with Stress in College
• The Impact of a Mentor in My Life
• Balancing Work and Studies
• Facing a Fear of Public Speaking
• Exploring a Semester Abroad
• The Evolution of My Study Habits
• Volunteering Experience That Changed My Perspective
• The Role of Technology in Education
• Finding Balance: Social Life vs. Academics
• Learning a New Skill Outside the Classroom
• Reflecting on Freshman Year Challenges
• The Joys and Struggles of Group Projects
• My Experience with Internship or Work Placement
• Challenges of Time Management in College
• Redefining Success Beyond Grades
• The Influence of Literature on My Thinking
• The Impact of Social Media on College Life
• Overcoming Procrastination
• Lessons from a Leadership Role
• Exploring Diversity on Campus
• Exploring Passion for Environmental Conservation
• An Eye-Opening Course That Changed My Perspective
• Living with Roommates: Challenges and Lessons
• The Significance of Extracurricular Activities
• The Influence of a Professor on My Academic Journey
• Discussing Mental Health in College
• The Evolution of My Career Goals
• Confronting Personal Biases Through Education
• The Experience of Attending a Conference or Symposium
• Challenges Faced by Non-Native English Speakers in College
• The Impact of Traveling During Breaks
• Exploring Identity: Cultural or Personal
• The Impact of Music or Art on My Life
• Addressing Diversity in the Classroom
• Exploring Entrepreneurial Ambitions
• My Experience with Research Projects
• Overcoming Impostor Syndrome in College
• The Importance of Networking in College
• Finding Resilience During Tough Times
• The Impact of Global Issues on Local Perspectives
• The Influence of Family Expectations on Education
• Lessons from a Part-Time Job
• Exploring the College Sports Culture
• The Role of Technology in Modern Education
• The Journey of Self-Discovery Through Education

Narrative Essay Comparison

Narrative essay vs. descriptive essay.

Here’s our first narrative essay comparison! While both narrative and descriptive essays focus on vividly portraying a subject or an event, they differ in their primary objectives and approaches. Now, let’s delve into the nuances of comparison on narrative essays.

Narrative Essay:

Storytelling: Focuses on narrating a personal experience or event.

Chronological Order: Follows a structured timeline of events to tell a story.

Message or Lesson: Often includes a central message, moral, or lesson learned from the experience.

Engagement: Aims to captivate the reader through a compelling storyline and character development.

First-Person Perspective: Typically narrated from the writer’s point of view, using “I” and expressing personal emotions and thoughts.

Plot Development: Emphasizes a plot with a beginning, middle, climax, and resolution.

Character Development: Focuses on describing characters, their interactions, emotions, and growth.

Conflict or Challenge: Usually involves a central conflict or challenge that drives the narrative forward.

Dialogue: Incorporates conversations to bring characters and their interactions to life.

Reflection: Concludes with reflection or insight gained from the experience.

Descriptive Essay:

Vivid Description: Aims to vividly depict a person, place, object, or event.

Imagery and Details: Focuses on sensory details to create a vivid image in the reader’s mind.

Emotion through Description: Uses descriptive language to evoke emotions and engage the reader’s senses.

Painting a Picture: Creates a sensory-rich description allowing the reader to visualize the subject.

Imagery and Sensory Details: Focuses on providing rich sensory descriptions, using vivid language and adjectives.

Point of Focus: Concentrates on describing a specific subject or scene in detail.

Spatial Organization: Often employs spatial organization to describe from one area or aspect to another.

Objective Observations: Typically avoids the use of personal opinions or emotions; instead, the focus remains on providing a detailed and objective description.

Comparison:

Focus: Narrative essays emphasize storytelling, while descriptive essays focus on vividly describing a subject or scene.

Perspective: Narrative essays are often written from a first-person perspective, while descriptive essays may use a more objective viewpoint.

Purpose: Narrative essays aim to convey a message or lesson through a story, while descriptive essays aim to paint a detailed picture for the reader without necessarily conveying a specific message.

Narrative Essay vs. Argumentative Essay

The narrative essay and the argumentative essay serve distinct purposes and employ different approaches:

Engagement and Emotion: Aims to captivate the reader through a compelling story.

Reflective: Often includes reflection on the significance of the experience or lessons learned.

First-Person Perspective: Typically narrated from the writer’s point of view, sharing personal emotions and thoughts.

Plot Development: Emphasizes a storyline with a beginning, middle, climax, and resolution.

Message or Lesson: Conveys a central message, moral, or insight derived from the experience.

Argumentative Essay:

Persuasion and Argumentation: Aims to persuade the reader to adopt the writer’s viewpoint on a specific topic.

Logical Reasoning: Presents evidence, facts, and reasoning to support a particular argument or stance.

Debate and Counterarguments: Acknowledge opposing views and counter them with evidence and reasoning.

Thesis Statement: Includes a clear thesis statement that outlines the writer’s position on the topic.

Thesis and Evidence: Starts with a strong thesis statement and supports it with factual evidence, statistics, expert opinions, or logical reasoning.

Counterarguments: Addresses opposing viewpoints and provides rebuttals with evidence.

Logical Structure: Follows a logical structure with an introduction, body paragraphs presenting arguments and evidence, and a conclusion reaffirming the thesis.

Formal Language: Uses formal language and avoids personal anecdotes or emotional appeals.

Objective: Argumentative essays focus on presenting a logical argument supported by evidence, while narrative essays prioritize storytelling and personal reflection.

Purpose: Argumentative essays aim to persuade and convince the reader of a particular viewpoint, while narrative essays aim to engage, entertain, and share personal experiences.

Structure: Narrative essays follow a storytelling structure with character development and plot, while argumentative essays follow a more formal, structured approach with logical arguments and evidence.

In essence, while both essays involve writing and presenting information, the narrative essay focuses on sharing a personal experience, whereas the argumentative essay aims to persuade the audience by presenting a well-supported argument.

Narrative Essay vs. Personal Essay

While there can be an overlap between narrative and personal essays, they have distinctive characteristics:

Storytelling: Emphasizes recounting a specific experience or event in a structured narrative form.

Engagement through Story: Aims to engage the reader through a compelling story with characters, plot, and a central theme or message.

Reflective: Often includes reflection on the significance of the experience and the lessons learned.

First-Person Perspective: Typically narrated from the writer’s viewpoint, expressing personal emotions and thoughts.

Plot Development: Focuses on developing a storyline with a clear beginning, middle, climax, and resolution.

Character Development: Includes descriptions of characters, their interactions, emotions, and growth.

Central Message: Conveys a central message, moral, or insight derived from the experience.

Personal Essay:

Exploration of Ideas or Themes: Explores personal ideas, opinions, or reflections on a particular topic or subject.

Expression of Thoughts and Opinions: Expresses the writer’s thoughts, feelings, and perspectives on a specific subject matter.

Reflection and Introspection: Often involves self-reflection and introspection on personal experiences, beliefs, or values.

Varied Structure and Content: Can encompass various forms, including memoirs, personal anecdotes, or reflections on life experiences.

Flexibility in Structure: Allows for diverse structures and forms based on the writer’s intent, which could be narrative-like or more reflective.

Theme-Centric Writing: Focuses on exploring a central theme or idea, with personal anecdotes or experiences supporting and illustrating the theme.

Expressive Language: Utilizes descriptive and expressive language to convey personal perspectives, emotions, and opinions.

Focus: Narrative essays primarily focus on storytelling through a structured narrative, while personal essays encompass a broader range of personal expression, which can include storytelling but isn’t limited to it.

Structure: Narrative essays have a more structured plot development with characters and a clear sequence of events, while personal essays might adopt various structures, focusing more on personal reflection, ideas, or themes.

Intent: While both involve personal experiences, narrative essays emphasize telling a story with a message or lesson learned, while personal essays aim to explore personal thoughts, feelings, or opinions on a broader range of topics or themes.

A narrative essay is more than just telling a story. It’s also meant to engage the reader, get them thinking, and leave a lasting impact. Whether it’s to amuse, motivate, teach, or reflect, these essays are a great way to communicate with your audience. This interesting narrative essay guide was all about letting you understand the narrative essay, its importance, and how can you write one.

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Telling the Story of Yourself: 6 Steps to Writing Personal Narratives

Jennifer Xue

Table of Contents

Why do we write personal narratives, 6 guidelines for writing personal narrative essays, inspiring personal narratives, examples of personal narrative essays, tell your story.

First off, you might be wondering: what is a personal narrative? In short, personal narratives are stories we tell about ourselves that focus on our growth, lessons learned, and reflections on our experiences.

From stories about inspirational figures we heard as children to any essay, article, or exercise where we're asked to express opinions on a situation, thing, or individual—personal narratives are everywhere.

According to Psychology Today, personal narratives allow authors to feel and release pains, while savouring moments of strength and resilience. Such emotions provide an avenue for both authors and readers to connect while supporting healing in the process.

That all sounds great. But when it comes to putting the words down on paper, we often end up with a list of experiences and no real structure to tie them together.

In this article, we'll discuss what a personal narrative essay is further, learn the 6 steps to writing one, and look at some examples of great personal narratives.

As readers, we're fascinated by memoirs, autobiographies, and long-form personal narrative articles, as they provide a glimpse into the authors' thought processes, ideas, and feelings. But you don't have to be writing your whole life story to create a personal narrative.

You might be a student writing an admissions essay , or be trying to tell your professional story in a cover letter. Regardless of your purpose, your narrative will focus on personal growth, reflections, and lessons.

Personal narratives help us connect with other people's stories due to their easy-to-digest format and because humans are empathising creatures.

We can better understand how others feel and think when we were told stories that allow us to see the world from their perspectives. The author's "I think" and "I feel" instantaneously become ours, as the brain doesn't know whether what we read is real or imaginary.

In her best-selling book Wired for Story, Lisa Cron explains that the human brain craves tales as it's hard-wired through evolution to learn what happens next. Since the brain doesn't know whether what you are reading is actual or not, we can register the moral of the story cognitively and affectively.

In academia, a narrative essay tells a story which is experiential, anecdotal, or personal. It allows the author to creatively express their thoughts, feelings, ideas, and opinions. Its length can be anywhere from a few paragraphs to hundreds of pages.

Outside of academia, personal narratives are known as a form of journalism or non-fiction works called "narrative journalism." Even highly prestigious publications like the New York Times and Time magazine have sections dedicated to personal narratives. The New Yorke is a magazine dedicated solely to this genre.

The New York Times holds personal narrative essay contests. The winners are selected because they:

had a clear narrative arc with a conflict and a main character who changed in some way. They artfully balanced the action of the story with reflection on what it meant to the writer. They took risks, like including dialogue or playing with punctuation, sentence structure and word choice to develop a strong voice. And, perhaps most important, they focused on a specific moment or theme – a conversation, a trip to the mall, a speech tournament, a hospital visit – instead of trying to sum up the writer’s life in 600 words.

In a nutshell, a personal narrative can cover any reflective and contemplative subject with a strong voice and a unique perspective, including uncommon private values. It's written in first person and the story encompasses a specific moment in time worthy of a discussion.

Writing a personal narrative essay involves both objectivity and subjectivity. You'll need to be objective enough to recognise the importance of an event or a situation to explore and write about. On the other hand, you must be subjective enough to inject private thoughts and feelings to make your point.

With personal narratives, you are both the muse and the creator – you have control over how your story is told. However, like any other type of writing, it comes with guidelines.

1. Write Your Personal Narrative as a Story

As a story, it must include an introduction, characters, plot, setting, climax, anti-climax (if any), and conclusion. Another way to approach it is by structuring it with an introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction should set the tone, while the body should focus on the key point(s) you want to get across. The conclusion can tell the reader what lessons you have learned from the story you've just told.

2. Give Your Personal Narrative a Clear Purpose

Your narrative essay should reflect your unique perspective on life. This is a lot harder than it sounds. You need to establish your perspective, the key things you want your reader to take away, and your tone of voice. It's a good idea to have a set purpose in mind for the narrative before you start writing.

Let's say you want to write about how you manage depression without taking any medicine. This could go in any number of ways, but isolating a purpose will help you focus your writing and choose which stories to tell. Are you advocating for a holistic approach, or do you want to describe your emotional experience for people thinking of trying it?

Having this focus will allow you to put your own unique take on what you did (and didn't do, if applicable), what changed you, and the lessons learned along the way.

3. Show, Don't Tell

It's a narration, so the narrative should show readers what happened, instead of telling them. As well as being a storyteller, the author should take part as one of the characters. Keep this in mind when writing, as the way you shape your perspective can have a big impact on how your reader sees your overarching plot. Don't slip into just explaining everything that happened because it happened to you. Show your reader with action.

You can check for instances of telling rather than showing with ProWritingAid. For example, instead of:

"You never let me do anything!" I cried disdainfully.

"You never let me do anything!" To this day, my mother swears that the glare I levelled at her as I spat those words out could have soured milk.

Using ProWritingAid will help you find these instances in your manuscript and edit them without spending hours trawling through your work yourself.

4. Use "I," But Don't Overuse It

You, the author, take ownership of the story, so the first person pronoun "I" is used throughout. However, you shouldn't overuse it, as it'd make it sound too self-centred and redundant.

ProWritingAid can also help you here – the Style Report will tell you if you've started too many sentences with "I", and show you how to introduce more variation in your writing.

5. Pay Attention to Tenses

Tense is key to understanding. Personal narratives mostly tell the story of events that happened in the past, so many authors choose to use the past tense. This helps separate out your current, narrating voice and your past self who you are narrating. If you're writing in the present tense, make sure that you keep it consistent throughout.

6. Make Your Conclusion Satisfying

Satisfy your readers by giving them an unforgettable closing scene. The body of the narration should build up the plot to climax. This doesn't have to be something incredible or shocking, just something that helps give an interesting take on your story.

The takeaways or the lessons learned should be written without lecturing. Whenever possible, continue to show rather than tell. Don't say what you learned, narrate what you do differently now. This will help the moral of your story shine through without being too preachy.

GoodReads is a great starting point for selecting read-worthy personal narrative books. Here are five of my favourites.

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen

Jane Yolen, the author of 386 books, wrote this poetic story about a daughter and her father who went owling. Instead of learning about owls, Yolen invites readers to contemplate the meaning of gentleness and hope.

Night by Elie Wiesel

Elie Wiesel was a teenager when he and his family were sent to Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944. This Holocaust memoir has a strong message that such horrific events should never be repeated.

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

This classic is a must-read by young and old alike. It's a remarkable diary by a 13-year-old Jewish girl who hid inside a secret annexe of an old building during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in 1942.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

This is a personal narrative written by a brave author renowned for her clarity, passion, and honesty. Didion shares how in December 2003, she lost her husband of 40 years to a massive heart attack and dealt with the acute illness of her only daughter. She speaks about grief, memories, illness, and hope.

Educated by Tara Westover

Author Tara Westover was raised by survivalist parents. She didn't go to school until 17 years of age, which later took her to Harvard and Cambridge. It's a story about the struggle for quest for knowledge and self-reinvention.

Narrative and personal narrative journalism are gaining more popularity these days. You can find distinguished personal narratives all over the web.

Curating the best of the best of personal narratives and narrative essays from all over the web. Some are award-winning articles.

Narratively

Long-form writing to celebrate humanity through storytelling. It publishes personal narrative essays written to provoke, inspire, and reflect, touching lesser-known and overlooked subjects.

Narrative Magazine

It publishes non,fiction narratives, poetry, and fiction. Among its contributors is Frank Conroy, the author of Stop-Time , a memoir that has never been out of print since 1967.

Thought Catalog

Aimed at Generation Z, it publishes personal narrative essays on self-improvement, family, friendship, romance, and others.

Personal narratives will continue to be popular as our brains are wired for stories. We love reading about others and telling stories of ourselves, as they bring satisfaction and a better understanding of the world around us.

Personal narratives make us better humans. Enjoy telling yours!

Write like a bestselling author

Love writing? ProWritingAid will help you improve the style, strength, and clarity of your stories.

Jennifer Xue is an award-winning e-book author with 2,500+ articles and 100+ e-books/reports published under her belt. She also taught 50+ college-level essay and paper writing classes. Her byline has appeared in Forbes, Fortune, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Business.com, Business2Community, Addicted2Success, Good Men Project, and others. Her blog is JenniferXue.com. Follow her on Twitter @jenxuewrites].

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How to Write a Narrative Essay?

24 May, 2020

11 minutes read

Author:  Tomas White

Understanding how to write a narrative essay means that you have to be "in the know" about the steps of the writing process. In this article, we will walk you through the process and help you not only learn the theory but also utilize this knowledge in practice.

What is a Narrative Essay?

A narrative essay tells a story. Personal pronouns and experience from the writer’s life are crucial aspects of this essay type. The purpose is to connect with the audience with the help of the narrative – a story with a point. Unlike other essays which may focus on research or argument, the narrative essay relies on carefully crafted details. Narrative essays take the format of a memoir – they should have a clear beginning, middle, and an end.

Let’s start by choosing a good topic.

How to Choose a Topic for a Narrative Essay?

Before choosing your topic, you can try to read other narrative essays for inspiration. This helps you gain a better understanding of the genre and receive ideas for your own topic and how to organize it.

Once you understand how the finished essay should look like, you can start to think about your topic in more detail. Think of a topic that could be interesting to both you and your audience. Since the narrative essay should draw from your own experiences, there is usually no need to use data from outside sources. Try to choose a personal topic that is not so widely covered on the web. It’s a good strategy to focus on a more narrow topic that is unique enough to catch the readers’ attention and encourage them to continue reading.

Your narrative essay should contain a story and some analysis of that story. Your goal is to illustrate your chosen issue through a personal story. The function of this personal story is to provide some evidence for the point you’re trying to make. Occasionally, you may choose to enhance your point with research in case you want to use additional details but this is not required. In most cases, a personal story will be enough to engage your audience.

Personal Narrative Essay: From Outline to a Refined Piece

Like all good narratives, whether a novel or a short story, this form should contain characters, a climax, and a resolution. You should introduce the characters in the introduction paragraph, reveal the climax in the last body paragraphs, and finally offer a resolution in the conclusion part, a unique insight or meditative reflection upon a lesson learned through the experience.

This is the universal story arc of a narrative essay that includes a beginning, a middle, and an end. In the beginning, you establish the setting and characters of your narrative. The middle presents a problem that your character is facing and trying to solve until a solution is revealed at the end.

While many other essays follow the typical five paragraph format, the narrative essay enjoys much more freedom.

An A-level narrative essay requires a student to outline, draft, and revise the story to ensure that it not only flows; but fully develops the main idea with specific details. Supporting all the ideas with vivid examples from real life experiences is a must, just like in an illustration essay .

It is more personal than any other essay, and some students struggle with this aspect. Our professional essay writers love narrative essays and have put together this guide to help you craft a unique assignment.

Here are the main parts of the narrative essay:

Introduction paragraph.

Related Posts: What is a Thesis statement | How to write an Essay introduction   

In narrative essays, the introduction section is typically shorter than most and ultimately works to set the stage for the personal story about to unfold. While the story itself will be personal, it should link to larger ideas.

For example, the loss of one’s first goldfish could trigger a reflection on life, or the act of losing one’s car keys could morph into an essay on all different kinds of loss.

Within this paragraph, the writer should introduce him or herself and provide any important background the reader requires to immerse themselves within the narrative essay thoroughly.

Just like with any good novel or short story, the opening paragraph or chapter doesn’t always reveal what is coming next; this structure compels the reader to continue reading to enjoy the conclusion of the narrative fully.

Body Paragraphs

Since narrative essays are more creative than conventional academic essays, the minimum three paragraph rule may not apply.

While some narrative essays will be five paragraphs, others may be two or eight or more. It really depends on how the narrative within the essay needs to progress to communicate the writer’s goal sufficiently. Just as the persuasive essay ’s goal is to persuade and the informative essay is to inform, the narrative essay’s goal is to entertain, or perhaps to contemplate.

The body paragraphs should cover all the ideas you are about to unravel to the reader.

“I need someone to write my essay!” – That’s something we hear a lot. The good news is that you are in the right place to ask for help. Buy narrative essay at HandMade Writing and you won’t regret!

While a narrative essay lacks heavy research components, it will follow a typical body paragraph format:

• Topic sentence
• Background sentence(s)
• Detail sentences

While other essays frown upon relying on personal anecdotes, narrative essays thrive on them. Additionally, this essay format can include dialogue as well. Recounting key conversations can strengthen the narrative text. However, including dialogue means that the writer should pay attention to dialogue rules.

Be sure that you know how to use both single and double quotation marks when writing about a conversation between two or more people.

Usually, the conclusion paragraph exists to review the major points within the body paragraphs. However, in a narrative essay, the conclusion is sometimes the most important paragraph; it serves to bring the narrative to an end.

This section’s purpose is to share how the conflict was resolved or how a resolution was reached. Similar to the definition essay , the point here is not to review the ideas of the body paragraphs and reveal what you have been working towards since the opening sentence.

Many narrative essays offer a “reveal” in this section; there may be a surprise or an unexpected twist. Such literary tactics are appropriate in a narrative essay.

Conclusion tops up the narrative itself – it should be planned accordingly within the outline.

Not sure how to switch from an academic to a more personal type of essay? No problem. Here are some tips to help you navigate the narrative essay:

Tip #1. Figure out how your narrative essay would look like

This is the most important one to follow. Basically, this is what this whole article is about.

Here is an example of the structure of a narrative essay:

Tip #2. Use Transitions

Transition words or sentences are especially important in a narrative essay – these words help establish the order of events. Useful transitions in this essay format can include the following:

Narrative Essay Sample

Be sure to check the sample essay, completed by our writers. Use it as an example to write your own essay. Link:  Personal Narrative Essay Sample

Other Tips from our Expert Writers

• Choose a non-embarrassing topic. Your teacher, and possibly your classmates will be reading this essay so pick a topic that you’re comfortable sharing with others.
• Connect beyond the experience. The point of a narrative essay is to relate an experience in your life to a larger idea – in recalling memory lane, remember to link it to something bigger than yourself.
• Start early. Don’t wait until the last minute. While you likely won’t need to hit the library to conduct research, you will be writing about yourself, and sometimes that can be harder.
• Write a draft. Know that first drafts are always riddled with mistakes. Just get your ideas down on paper and then worry about fixing all the grammatical stuff.
• Schedule an appointment with your teacher. All teachers have “office hours”—take your professor up in their office hours and get their feedback to ensure you’re on the right track. And don’t wait until the last minute!
• Revise. Take any constructive criticism from classmates, friends, or professional editing services and make your draft better.
• Read it backward. Begin with the last sentence and read the narrative essay until you end with the first sentence. While this won’t help with content issues, it does help the brain spot problems with grammar.
• Check the formatting. Before handing in any final copy, always check the formatting. Make sure that the headings, titles, font, spacing, and margins all conform to the professor’s preferences.
• Review the rubric. Once last time, check your final draft against the rubric to ensure that you’ve met all the requirements provided by the teacher.

Related post: How to write a Descriptive essay

Remember: not all stories are appropriate for all audiences, so it’s important to select a narrative topic suitable for your tutor. Use literary devices as appropriate —especially ones that create stronger images such as metaphors, similes, imagery, and personification among others.

Most importantly, review your narrative essay to ensure that it tells a story; sharing an important story is the most defining characteristic of this essay type. Ultimately, your narrative essay should strive to meet Chuck Klosterman’s definition:

“The essays are different because ultimately it’s things I’m interested in, and I’m really just writing about myself and using those subjects as a prism.”

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I Thought the Bragg Case Against Trump Was a Legal Embarrassment. Now I Think It’s a Historic Mistake.

By Jed Handelsman Shugerman

Mr. Shugerman is a law professor at Boston University.

About a year ago, when Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, indicted former President Donald Trump, I was critical of the case and called it an embarrassment. I thought an array of legal problems would and should lead to long delays in federal courts.

After listening to Monday’s opening statement by prosecutors, I still think the district attorney has made a historic mistake. Their vague allegation about “a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election” has me more concerned than ever about their unprecedented use of state law and their persistent avoidance of specifying an election crime or a valid theory of fraud.

To recap: Mr. Trump is accused in the case of falsifying business records. Those are misdemeanor charges. To elevate it to a criminal case, Mr. Bragg and his team have pointed to potential violations of federal election law and state tax fraud. They also cite state election law, but state statutory definitions of “public office” seem to limit those statutes to state and local races.

Both the misdemeanor and felony charges require that the defendant made the false record with “intent to defraud.” A year ago, I wondered how entirely internal business records (the daily ledger, pay stubs and invoices) could be the basis of any fraud if they are not shared with anyone outside the business. I suggested that the real fraud was Mr. Trump’s filing an (allegedly) false report to the Federal Election Commission, and that only federal prosecutors had jurisdiction over that filing.

A recent conversation with Jeffrey Cohen, a friend, Boston College law professor and former prosecutor, made me think that the case could turn out to be more legitimate than I had originally thought. The reason has to do with those allegedly falsified business records: Most of them were entered in early 2017, generally before Mr. Trump filed his Federal Election Commission report that summer. Mr. Trump may have foreseen an investigation into his campaign, leading to its financial records. He may have falsely recorded these internal records before the F.E.C. filing as consciously part of the same fraud: to create a consistent paper trail and to hide intent to violate federal election laws, or defraud the F.E.C.

In short: It’s not the crime; it’s the cover-up.

Looking at the case in this way might address concerns about state jurisdiction. In this scenario, Mr. Trump arguably intended to deceive state investigators, too. State investigators could find these inconsistencies and alert federal agencies. Prosecutors could argue that New York State agencies have an interest in detecting conspiracies to defraud federal entities; they might also have a plausible answer to significant questions about whether New York State has jurisdiction or whether this stretch of a state business filing law is pre-empted by federal law.

However, this explanation is a novel interpretation with many significant legal problems. And none of the Manhattan district attorney’s filings or today’s opening statement even hint at this approach.

Instead of a theory of defrauding state regulators, Mr. Bragg has adopted a weak theory of “election interference,” and Justice Juan Merchan described the case , in his summary of it during jury selection, as an allegation of falsifying business records “to conceal an agreement with others to unlawfully influence the 2016 election.”

As a reality check: It is legal for a candidate to pay for a nondisclosure agreement. Hush money is unseemly, but it is legal. The election law scholar Richard Hasen rightly observed , “Calling it election interference actually cheapens the term and undermines the deadly serious charges in the real election interference cases.”

In Monday’s opening argument, the prosecutor Matthew Colangelo still evaded specifics about what was illegal about influencing an election, but then he claimed , “It was election fraud, pure and simple.” None of the relevant state or federal statutes refer to filing violations as fraud. Calling it “election fraud” is a legal and strategic mistake, exaggerating the case and setting up the jury with high expectations that the prosecutors cannot meet.

The most accurate description of this criminal case is a federal campaign finance filing violation. Without a federal violation (which the state election statute is tethered to), Mr. Bragg cannot upgrade the misdemeanor counts into felonies. Moreover, it is unclear how this case would even fulfill the misdemeanor requirement of “intent to defraud” without the federal crime.

In stretching jurisdiction and trying a federal crime in state court, the Manhattan district attorney is now pushing untested legal interpretations and applications. I see three red flags raising concerns about selective prosecution upon appeal.

First, I could find no previous case of any state prosecutor relying on the Federal Election Campaign Act either as a direct crime or a predicate crime. Whether state prosecutors have avoided doing so as a matter of law, norms or lack of expertise, this novel attempt is a sign of overreach.

Second, Mr. Trump’s lawyers argued that the New York statute requires that the predicate (underlying) crime must also be a New York crime, not a crime in another jurisdiction. The district attorney responded with judicial precedents only about other criminal statutes, not the statute in this case. In the end, the prosecutors could not cite a single judicial interpretation of this particular statute supporting their use of the statute (a plea deal and a single jury instruction do not count).

Third, no New York precedent has allowed an interpretation of defrauding the general public. Legal experts have noted that such a broad “election interference” theory is unprecedented, and a conviction based on it may not survive a state appeal.

Mr. Trump’s legal team also undercut itself for its decisions in the past year: His lawyers essentially put all of their eggs in the meritless basket of seeking to move the trial to federal court, instead of seeking a federal injunction to stop the trial entirely. If they had raised the issues of selective or vindictive prosecution and a mix of jurisdictional, pre-emption and constitutional claims, they could have delayed the trial past Election Day, even if they lost at each federal stage.

Another reason a federal crime has wound up in state court is that President Biden’s Justice Department bent over backward not to reopen this valid case or appoint a special counsel. Mr. Trump has tried to blame Mr. Biden for this prosecution as the real “election interference.” The Biden administration’s extra restraint belies this allegation and deserves more credit.

Eight years after the alleged crime itself, it is reasonable to ask if this is more about Manhattan politics than New York law. This case should serve as a cautionary tale about broader prosecutorial abuses in America — and promote bipartisan reforms of our partisan prosecutorial system.

Nevertheless, prosecutors should have some latitude to develop their case during trial, and maybe they will be more careful and precise about the underlying crime, fraud and the jurisdictional questions. Mr. Trump has received sufficient notice of the charges, and he can raise his arguments on appeal. One important principle of “ our Federalism ,” in the Supreme Court’s terms, is abstention , that federal courts should generally allow state trials to proceed first and wait to hear challenges later.

This case is still an embarrassment, in terms of prosecutorial ethics and apparent selectivity. Nevertheless, each side should have its day in court. If convicted, Mr. Trump can fight many other days — and perhaps win — in appellate courts. But if Monday’s opening is a preview of exaggerated allegations, imprecise legal theories and persistently unaddressed problems, the prosecutors might not win a conviction at all.

Jed Handelsman Shugerman (@jedshug) is a law professor at Boston University.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .

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What Are Americans’ Top Foreign Policy Priorities?

Protecting the u.s. from terrorism and reducing the flow of illegal drugs are top issues overall, but democrats and republicans have very different priorities, table of contents.

• Differences by partisanship
• Differences by age
• Acknowledgments
• The American Trends Panel survey methodology

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to better understand Americans’ long-range foreign policy priorities. For this analysis, we surveyed 3,600 U.S. adults from April 1 to April 7, 2024. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s methodology .

Here are the questions used for this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology .

Americans have a lot on their plates in 2024, including an important election to determine who will remain or become again president. But the world does not stop for a U.S. election, and multiple conflicts around the world as well as other issues of global prominence continue to concern Americans.

When asked to prioritize the long-range foreign policy goals of the United States, the majority of Americans say preventing terrorist attacks (73%), keeping illegal drugs out of the country (64%) and preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction (63%) are top priorities. Over half of Americans also see maintaining the U.S. military advantage over other countries (53%) and preventing the spread of infectious diseases (52%) as primary foreign policy responsibilities.

About half of Americans say limiting the power and influence of Russia and China are top priorities. A recent annual threat assessment from the U.S. intelligence community focused heavily on those countries’ strengthening military relationship and their ability to shape the global narrative against U.S. interests.

Fewer than half of Americans say dealing with global climate change (44%) and getting other countries to assume more of the costs of maintaining world order (42%) are top priorities. The partisan gaps on these two issues are quite large:

• 70% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say climate change should be a top priority, while 15% of Republicans and Republican leaners say this.
• 54% of Republicans say getting other countries to assume more of the costs of maintaining world order should be a top priority, compared with 33% of Democrats.

About four-in-ten Americans see limiting the power and influence of North Korea and Iran as top priorities. (The survey was conducted before Iran’s large-scale missile attack on Israel on April 13.) And about a third say the same about the U.S. being a leader in artificial intelligence, a technology that governments around the world are increasingly concerned about .

When it comes to goals that focus on international engagement, like strengthening the United Nations and NATO or finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, fewer than a third of Americans mark these as top foreign policy priorities.

Related: Fewer Americans view the United Nations favorably than in 2023

Only about a quarter of Americans prioritize promoting human rights in other countries, leading other countries in space exploration and reducing military commitments overseas. And similar shares say supporting Ukraine (23%) and Israel (22%) are top issues.

At the bottom of this list of foreign policy priorities are promoting global democracy ( a major policy push from the Biden administration ) and aiding refugees fleeing violence around the world – about two-in-ten Americans describe these as top concerns. These assessments come amid a recent global surge in asylum claims . Still, in Center surveys, democracy promotion has typically been at the bottom of Americans’ list of foreign policy priorities, even dating back to George W. Bush’s and Barack Obama’s administrations .

Overall, a majority of Americans say that all 22 long-range foreign policy goals we asked about should be given at least some priority. Still, about three-in-ten Americans say supporting Israel (31%), promoting democracy (28%) and supporting Ukraine (27%) should be given no priority.

The long-range foreign policy priority questions were also asked in 2018 and 2021, and since then there have been some significant shifts in responses:

• Since 2018, the public has become significantly more likely to say limiting the power and influence of China (+17 percentage points) and finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (+11) are top foreign policy priorities.
• Americans have also increased the emphasis they place on limiting the power and influence of Russia, particularly in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (+8 points since 2021).
• On the decline since 2018 are strengthening the UN and aiding refugees (-8 points each), reducing foreign military commitments (-6), and promoting and defending human rights in other countries (-5).
• Preventing the spread of infectious diseases is down 19 percentage points since 2021 – during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic – and about back to where it was in 2018.

These are among the findings from a Pew Research Center survey conducted April 1-7, 2024.

The survey of 3,600 U.S. adults shows that foreign policy remains a partisan issue. Republicans prioritize the prevention of terrorism, reducing the flow of illegal drugs into the country, and maintaining a military advantage over other nations. Meanwhile, Democrats prioritize dealing with climate change and preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), but also preventing terrorist attacks.

There are also stark age differences on many of the policy goals mentioned, but for the most part, young adults are less likely than older Americans to say the issues we asked about are top priorities. The exceptions are dealing with climate change, reducing military commitments overseas, and promoting and defending human rights abroad – on these issues, 18- to 29-year-olds are significantly more likely than older Americans to assign top priority.

Even with these priorities, foreign policy generally takes the backset to domestic policy for most Americans: 83% say it is more important for President Joe Biden to focus on domestic policy, compared with 14% who say he should focus on foreign policy.

Americans are even less likely to prioritize international affairs than they were in 2019, when 74% wanted then-President Donald Trump to focus on domestic policy and 23% said he should focus on foreign policy.

Americans’ foreign policy priorities differ greatly by party. The largest divide, by a significant margin, is the 55 percentage point gap between Democrats and Republicans on dealing with global climate change (70% vs. 15%, respectively, see it as a top priority).

Supporting Ukraine, aiding refugees, reducing the spread of diseases, protecting human rights, and strengthening the UN are also issues on which Democrats are at least 20 points more likely than Republicans to prioritize. For example, 63% of Democrats say reducing the spread of infectious diseases is a top priority, compared with 41% of Republicans.

Republicans prioritize supporting Israel, reducing the flow of illegal drugs and maintaining a military advantage over other countries – among other security and hard power issues – significantly more than Democrats do. For example, more than half of Republicans (54%) say getting other countries to assume more of the costs of maintaining world order should be a top focus in foreign policy. Only a third of Democrats say the same.

The priority assigned to several issues is divided even further by ideology within parties. Take support for Israel and Ukraine as examples. Supporting Israel is generally a higher priority for Republicans than Democrats, but within the Republican Party, 48% of conservatives say it’s a top concern, while 18% of moderates and liberals agree. Previous Center research shows that conservative Republicans are especially likely to favor military aid to Israel .

Supporting Ukraine, something Democrats emphasize more than Republicans, is a top priority particularly for liberal Democrats (47%), while about three-in-ten moderate and conservative Democrats agree (29%). Democrats have also shown more willingness than Republicans to provide aid to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

Generally, the partisan differences on the importance of several foreign policy issues have gotten smaller since 2021 , when most of these questions were last fielded. This is especially true for items related to the relative power of major countries, like the U.S. maintaining a military advantage and limiting the power and influence of both Russia and China.

However, finding a solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians – a priority that saw no partisan difference at all when it was last asked about in 2018 – has an emerging partisan gap today. The share of Democrats who call this a top priority has more than doubled, while the share of Republicans has changed little.

Age differences persist on foreign policy issues. Older Americans prioritize most of the issues we asked about at higher rates than those ages 18 t0 29.

On four issues, there is at least a 40 percentage point gap between Americans ages 65 and older and young adults ages 18 to 29. The oldest Americans are more likely to prioritize reducing the flow of illegal drugs, limiting the power and influence of China and Iran, and maintaining a U.S. military advantage.

Those in the oldest age group are also more concerned than their younger counterparts on an additional 11 issues, ranging from support for Israel to U.S. leadership in space exploration.

For their part, young adults are more likely to say dealing with global climate change, reducing U.S. military commitments overseas, and promoting and defending human rights in other countries should be top foreign policy priorities.

Even starker patterns appear when looking at partisanship within two age groups – adults ages 18 to 49 and those 50 and older.

Among Democrats, older adults place particularly high priority on supporting Ukraine, strengthening NATO, and limiting the power and influence of Russia amid its war with Ukraine. Older Democrats are also more likely than younger ones to prioritize preventing the development of WMDs, curbing the spread of diseases, strengthening the UN and promoting democracy around the world, among other issues.

Among Republicans, those ages 50 and older are more likely than those ages 18 to 49 to prioritize supporting Israel, limiting the power and influence of Iran and China, getting other countries to assume more foreign policy costs, reducing the amount of illegal drugs entering the U.S., preventing terrorism, and maintaining a military advantage.

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