HOW TO

WRITE A
NARRATIVE
ESSAY
 What is a Narrative Essay?

• A narrative essay is written in the form of a story

and clearly gives a point of view on the subject-
most often that of the author. The idea of this type
of essay is to engage the reader in a sensory and
emotional way which will allow them to connect
with that is being written about.
How?
 Make it Personal

• Before you start writing a story essay, the most crucial thing to
think about is what your story will be about. What's the main
idea or theme, and how can you make it feel real by adding
some true details? It should be a topic that other people can
relate to and care about. One of the best ways to write this type
of essay is by sharing your own personal experiences. This way,
you can create a story that others can understand and connect
with.
 Outlines are your best bet

• To write an awesome essay, it's super important to plan

everything carefully. The best way to do that is by
creating a detailed essay outline. This outline helps you
organise your thoughts and decide how your essay will
be structured. It's like making a road map for your
essay so that you know where you're going before you
start writing.
 Details, details, details

• When planning your essay it is important to make sure that you

only include details that are going to provide relevance to the
story. By adding in too many words and phrases that don’t
contribute, you may end up confusing the audience.
• Whilst writing something like a novel it is a great excuse to show
o your knowledge of the English language, a narrative essay is
not the place to do this. You should use language that is clear and
concise and can be easily understood by anyone who is reading.
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 Chronology & Clarity

• A narrative essay is structured in a chronological manner,

meaning that events are ordered in the time that they occurred,
this is important to keep in mind when structuring your essay.
• Make sure that the key points are highlighted and easily
accessible to the reader. If you are writing a narrative essay to
show how cycling to work bene ted your health, you should
make this information clear in the essay.
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 To be Lengthy or not to be lengthy

• A narrative essay does not need to be overly lengthy. If

you are being instructed to write a set amount of words,
then this should be adhered to but otherwise, you
should keep it as short as possible so that the main
point of the writing is not lost. That being said, it is also
important to make it long enough to include everything
that you need to include.
 An example

Only Daughter Written By Sandra Cisneros

Once, some years ago, just as I was beginning my writing career, someone asked me
to write my very own contributors note for this anthology that I was a part of. For
this, I wrote ‘I’m an only daughter within a family that has 6 sons. That says it all.’
I have thought about it ever since, yes, it does explain lots to me but for the sake of
the reader, I ought to have wrote ‘I’m an only daughter within a Mexican family with
6 sons.’ or perhaps ‘I’m an only daughter from a Mexican dad and a Mexican-
American mom’ or ‘I’m an only daughter from a working class family of 9.’ Each of
these has a lot to do with the person that I am today.
 Another example

New Directions Written By Maya Angelou

Annie was more than 6 feet tall, had big bones and had decided she wouldn’t
work as a domestic meaning she’d have to leave her ‘precious babies’ in the care
of anyone else. There wasn’t any possibility of her being taken on in the cotton
gin or the lumber mill, but there was maybe a way to get the 2 factories to work
for her. In her own words ‘I looked along the road on which I was going, and
back again the way I had come, but as I was not satis ed, I made the decision to
step o of the road and start a new path.’ She had told herself she was not a
fancy cook, yet she could mix the groceries enough to stop hunger.
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 Test Yourself!
• A teacher who inspired you
• The loss or gain of faith
• An experience with danger
• Con ict with a loved one
• Your rst trip to a place
• An experience which changed
your behaviour
• How you overcame a fear
• How you decided on your career
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• When you helped someone in a crisis
• An experience that changed your
viewpoint on another person
• Something that happened on a vacation
• Secret places of your childhood
• How you realised that your parents were
right
• An embarrassing experience
• How you met your closest friend
• An experience of getting lost