Narrative Writing

 

Steps of Writing Narratives

Types of narrative writing

The way of writing narrative depends upon the goals for the piece of writing to be represented.

It can be linear[1] , a quest narrative[2], or a historical narrative[3], or can be non-linear[4] type.

 

By choosing a nonlinear narrative for your writing, you can emphasize your characters’ emotions and perspectives on the events in the story. You can also highlight key events and include scenes that provide necessary details that wouldn’t fit into your story’s timeline otherwise.

 

Viewpoint narrative

A viewpoint narrative focuses on the narrator’s perspective of the story’s events. Generally, these kinds of stories are more character driven than plot driven. The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most popular examples of a viewpoint narrative. By putting the reader in protagonist Holden Caulfield’s head, author J. D. Salinger created a unique perspective that allows the reader to experience Holden’s romp through New York City firsthand and feel what he feels as the narrative unfolds. Imagine if the novel was a linear narrative told through a third-person point of view—reading it would be a very different experience, wouldn’t it?

 

Through a narrative viewpoint, you can explore facets of your protagonist’s personality and expose your readers to their thoughts. This kind of narrative is an effective choice for personal essays and stories with perspective and personal growth themes.

 

Descriptive narrative

In a descriptive narrative, the focus is on how the story’s setting, characters, and objects look and feel. The goal here is total immersion in the world of the story; this is different from how a viewpoint narrative strives to create immersion in a character’s inner world, a limited perspective on the world of the story. A well-known example of a descriptive narrative is Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The Tell-Tale Heart. After murdering a victim and hiding his heart beneath a floorboard, the narrator hears a heartbeat-like thumping, which gets louder and louder until they confess to their crime. The narrative is structured like a conversation between the reader and the narrator, with the narrator’s distressed mental state and strong emotions expressed through Poe’s word choice, sentence structure, and manner of addressing the reader.

 

If you’re assigned to write a descriptive essay, you’ll use descriptive narrative techniques to discuss the topic you’re covering. These include using vivid imagery to introduce specific objects and ideas, personification, and similes.

 

Key elements of Narrative Writing:

A written narrative includes several key elements, which are:

Plot: The plot is the thread of events that occurs in the narrative.

Characters: Characters are the people in the plot who appear and develop as the story progresses. The elements of the plot also impact the characters. 

Setting: The location, including the place and time in which the story took place, is the setting in a narrative.

Conflict: Conflict is the problem in the story. It often includes a moment of tension or a challenge that the characters try to overcome.

Theme: The overarching purpose or driving force behind the story, including its moral, intent and takeaways, is the theme.

Tone: Tone is a styling choice that determines how the reader experiences the situation that the plot describes.

Point of view: The point of view allows the narrator in the story to describe what’s happening in the plot. The narrator can be a character, and the point of view can shift between multiple characters, or the author may use an omniscient narrator who explains the thoughts and feelings of the character while being unknown to the reader.

Timeline: The timeline dictates the sequence of events in the plot. A writer can choose to alter the timeline of certain events or describe the events out of the sequence in which they happened.Another character found in nearly every narrative is the antagonist. The antagonist isn’t necessarily the “bad guy”; they are simply the character or force imposing obstacles for the protagonist to overcome. In many narratives, the antagonist is a person, a force of nature, the protagonist’s society, or even an aspect of the protagonist’s personality.

Plot: The plot is the series of events that happen in your narrative. A plot can be simple, with only one or two events, or it can be complex and multi-layered.

Narrative structure: Every narrative, even nonlinear narratives, is organized in some way. This is how the main character pursues their goal or faces the challenge presented to them. No matter how you structure your narrative, it has three distinct parts:

The beginning: This is where the reader meets your writing. Hooking their attention at the beginning is crucial.

The middle: The middle of your story or essay is where the action happens. This is where your protagonist faces one or more conflicts and reaches the climax, the point where the narrative pivots to the falling action after the protagonist either meets or fails to meet their goal.

The end: After the narrative’s climax, the ending wraps up loose story threads, satisfies readers’ remaining curiosities, and positions the protagonist for life after the story’s events.

 

Here's a list of 26 narrative techniques for writers to consider:

1. Use the setting

Many writers create settings that reflect a character's mood or circumstances. You can also use a setting to impact a character's decision-making process, making it an active component of a story's conflict. Consider novels in the gothic genre, which sometimes describe gloomy castles and characters with a corresponding dour personality. By defining certain traits of the castle setting, like a hallway that's always cold, you can reveal many aspects of a character's defining traits.

2. Create foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is a way to provide hints about events in a story before they happen. Writers often use foreshadowing to add an element of tension and emotion to their stories, as readers may recognize the event and continue reading to see if they're correct. You can also include foreshadowing to give a story an ominous tone, depending on its genre.

3. Include sensory imagery

Writers often use sensory imagery to create all the visuals of a scene using only words. This technique can help a reader understand a scene's varied elements, allowing them to understand a physical environment. For instance, a scene that takes place in a grocery store might include details about voices a character hears on the loudspeaker or the food they smell, taste, see and touch while they shop.

4. Provide a "cliffhanger"

A cliffhanger describes an ending of a story that withholds information about how a narrative resolves. It often suggests multiple ways a story could resolve, which allows readers to speculate about their preferred ending. Writers sometimes include cliffhangers to generate excitement about the next installment of a story. For instance, a television season might end before a character decides who to marry.

5. Change the chronology

Some writers use a flashback or flash-forward to include relevant experiences from a character's past or future. Adding a scene about a past event can reveal why a character takes certain actions in the present timeline of a story. Incorporating a future event can provide dramatic irony, which occurs when a reader learns how a story ends before the characters do.

6. Choose a point of view

Point of view typically describes who narrates a story's events. Writers typically choose a perspective that best conveys the information they prefer readers to know versus what they prefer to obscure. For example, a first-person narrative only reveals the motivations of one character. A third-person point of view uses she, he or they pronouns, revealing the observations of many characters while the narrator exists outside of the story entirely.

Related: How To Use Point of View in Your Story

7. Incorporate character voice

Character voice is the particular way a character expresses themselves in their inner monologue or to others in a story. You can reveal a character's voice through their personality traits, dialogue and narration. Writers often develop a character's voice to affect how a reader interprets their actions and to give the story a tone. They may also include this technique to help readers distinguish one character from another.

8. Use symbolism

Symbolism is the use of objects or words to represent an abstract concept or mood. Writers often incorporate symbols in a story to develop its core themes and add another emotional element. For instance, a character might see a certain type of weather pattern whenever they process their relationship with another character. As a result, you could describe that weather pattern as a symbol for the relationship overall.

Related: 8 Types of Symbolism

9. Create an unreliable narrator

Unreliable narrators are typically characters who deliberately omit information from a reader. They may conceal information, unconsciously hide elements because of circumstances in their character arc or lack knowledge of certain details. Writers often use an unreliable narrator to create tension and suspense in a story.

10. Involve readers in the story

Some writers incorporate readers in the narrative of a text. For instance, characters may know they're in a work of fiction or display an understanding that readers are currently observing their actions. As a result, they can address readers directly in narration or dialogue as an invisible character in a text. Depending on your preferences, you can have a reader's involvement affect the plot's overall arc.

11. Record a stream of consciousness

Stream of consciousness is a method of conveying the immediate thoughts and perceptions of a central character moving through a scene. It typically involves long sentences and focuses more heavily on a character's emotions than a sequence of plot points. Writers often use stream-of-consciousness descriptions to explore how a character processes sensory information. You can also use this method to write nonlinear stories, as a person's immediate thoughts often involve memory recall.

12. Personify an animal character

Personification is a technique for applying the qualities of one entity to another. Writers often personify animals by giving them the attributes of humans, allowing them to have human motivations and language abilities. Many fable and fairy tale writers personify animals to give the story a fantastical style and tone. You can also personify animals to encourage readers to connect with them emotionally.

13. Include big surprises in a plot

Often referred to as a plot twist, some writers introduce an unforeseen event in a story that dramatically alters the narrative. Writers often include plot twists to add a dramatic element and adjust a reader's expectations. For example, consider a character trying to find their family. At a climactic moment, they learn that a supporting character they've known since the beginning of the plot is secretly their relative, which changes the focus of their narrative arc.

14. Make a satire or parody

Satire uses humor to make social commentary. You can use literary devices such as exaggeration and irony to make commentary about a person or a situation. Parody is a similar technique that involves imitation of a writer's style or a genre that exaggerates features for a comedic effect. For instance, a parody of a popular celebrity may involve exaggerating their mannerisms.

Related: 7 Satire Techniques With Tips

15. Compose a metaphor

Metaphors are a type of figurative language that describes s omething by referring to something else. When writing a metaphor, you typically describe one emotion, object or concept as another to create a connection between them and add imagery. For instance, consider the phrase, "Love is an ocean." Equating these terms can allow readers to consider their similarities in new ways.

16. Include a simile

Similes are another type of figurative language that makes direct comparisons between objects or concepts. You can usually differentiate a similar from a metaphor by observing whether it uses the words like or as to describe a comparison. Using the elements from the metaphor above, an example of a simile might be, "Love is like an ocean."

17. Resolve your plot neatly

Writers sometimes resolve conflicts in a plot using an unanticipated event, object or character technique. This technique helps you provide a simple, clarified ending to a story. For instance, consider a play with a conflict between two siblings about who should inherit land from a relative. An ending using this technique might involve that relative appearing in the last scene to decide for them.

18. Write a narrative-within-a-narrative

Some writers have a character tell a story within a larger, encompassing one. Writers often use this technique to comment on storytelling as a practice. For instance, you might have characters introduce a narrative-within-a-narrative at the beginning of a story, write this full narrative in the middle, then bring the original characters back to discuss it at the end.

19. Start in the middle of a story

Some writers begin their story in the middle of the plot's events, meaning the reader knows very little about the central conflict before it starts. To reveal a backstory, they often include hints through dialogue and narration. You can use this technique to add urgency to a story, which may increase a reader's sense of suspense.

Related: Storytelling: Elements of a Good Story and How To Develop Your Process

20. Use a hyperbole

Hyperbole is a style technique involving an intense exaggeration to convey a fact. Writers often include hyperbole to emphasize these statements to readers, offering them more clarity about a situation or its emotional relevance. Consider the hyperbole, "I walked a thousand miles" spoken by a character who lacks this capability. Including it may help readers comprehend how this character reacted to this situation.

21. Design an author surrogate

Some writers include a character to represent themselves. They're typically the narrator, which allows a writer to comment on a story's events. You can also use this technique to write a fictional character whose traits and backstory directly parallel events from your life. Another option involves giving yourself alternate traits to learn how you might behave in certain situations, like a setting from science fiction.

22. Construct an allegory

An allegory is a story that represents a larger idea or event from a society that actually exists. Writers sometimes use an allegory to share their perspective on that larger idea or event covertly instead of directly stating their opinion. For example, consider a story about a child looking for a lost item by talking to their neighbors. This might be an allegory for humans who look for a purpose in life through other people.

23. Use alliteration

Alliteration is a technique for grouping similar letters or sounds in one sentence. Writers use alliteration to emphasize a particular phrase or to create memorable lines. An example of alliteration is "Damien dared Julia to stand on the river dam." The words "Damien" and "dared "begin with the same letter, while the words "stand" and "dam" have the same beginning consonant sound.

Related: 10 Easy Ways To Improve Your Vocabulary Skills

24. Involve a "Red herring"

A red herring is a technique for presenting misleading information that directs a character away from an important concept or fact. Writers often use red herrings in mystery novels to frame one character as a likely suspect while another character is the actual culprit. You can also use them to mislead readers about a certain aspect of a plot or character to add an element of surprise to a story.

25. Try the cut-up method

The cut-up method is a technique where you remove individual words or sentences from a written text to create something new. You can use it to comment on an original piece or alter its context. For instance, you use scissors to separate words from a newspaper article and reuse them in a poem about the content of that article.

26. Add defamiliarization

Defamiliarization is a technique where a writer describes a common situation using uncommon descriptions. You can use this technique to examine aspects of daily life in a particular society to help readers develop a new perspective. For example, you could describe a character who observes pet one day and thinks about what it means to share a life with a non-human creature who communicates in different ways.

 

 

 

Tips for awesome narrative writing

 

Use your narrative to build characters

When you’re writing in the first-person point of view, your story’s narrator is one of the characters in the story. Use this role as an opportunity to shape their character through their word choice, perspective, and reactions to the events in the story. Your narrator doesn’t have to be omniscient, nor do they necessarily have to be trustworthy or even the story’s only narrator—experiment with things like an unreliable narrator, a limited point of view, or alternating narrators (which gives the reader a taste of each character’s perspective).

 

Listen to how people tell stories : Next time your friend tells you about their day, pay as much attention to how they tell the story as you do to the story itself. Listen for the jumps forward and back, asides, tangents, and how your friend’s volume and animation level change at different parts of the story. You’ll notice that certain parts get “fast-forwarded” while others split from the logical, linear narrative and involve more abstract, descriptive language.

 

When you sit down to write your next narrative piece, keep these storytelling ebbs and flows in mind. Think about where your friend slowed down to build suspense and where their tone changed to communicate how they felt at different points in the story. You can create these effects in your writing through thoughtful word choice and pacing.

 

Mix and match narrative styles

Writing a linear narrative doesn’t mean you can’t incorporate elements of a descriptive or viewpoint narrative. If your nonlinear essay about the five best summers of your life calls for a passage that shows the reader everything you saw, smelled, and swatted away one year at camp, write that passage.

 

Play!: Give yourself permission to play. Make up your own onomatopoeia. Put yourself in two different characters’ heads and describe the same building from each character’s perspective. Then write the characters’ conversation with each other about the building. Follow your stream of consciousness as far as it can go and see where you end up.

 

This playful kind of writing is called freewriting. It’s a fun way to get yourself into a creative mind frame and create a world on the page. There are no structure rules and there’s no reason to worry about grammar—the writing you produce during a freewriting session is the raw content you’ll shape and polish into a coherent narrative later. For now, give yourself permission to play.

 

Make your writing shine: Grammarly can help you tell your story—any story—with confidence by ensuring that your writing is mistake-free and conveys the exact tone you intend. Consider it a built-in editor that helps you hone your craft as you write.  

 

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[1] Linear narrative: Events are told in chronological order. Most books, movies, TV shows, and other pieces of media are examples of linear narratives. Each scene is followed by the next logical scene. Gap between scenes can be of a natural occurrence.

 

[2] This kind of narrative tells the story of a character’s quest to reach a goal. Often, this quest involves traveling to a far-off location and overcoming obstacles to achieve the goal. Shrek is an example of a quest narrative. In addition to following the standard quest narrative structure, Shrek also satirizes many of the tropes associated with this kind of story, like a princess locked in a tower guarded by a dragon.

[3] A historical narrative follows a linear timeline to tell the story of an actual event or series of events.

[4] It presents its story’s events in non-chronological order. A well-known example of a nonlinear narrative is House of Leaves, a novel told through first-person narration, recovered documents, and footnotes throughout the book.