A Complete Guide for Narrative Essay Writing

Alice Smith Published On Aug 07,2020 | Updated on Sep 06,2022 Essays

Understanding The Fundamentals Of Narrative Essay Writing

Some people are natural storytellers. They can narrate even the simplest of stories in an interesting way. Even if you don't consider yourself a good storyteller, there are high chances that you need to work on your narrative skills at some point in your academic career in order to produce narrative essays. This is why it is crucial to know how to write a narrative essay.

.Narrative essays are comparatively easier than some of the other forms of essay writing. In most cases, a writer draws inspiration for a narrative essay from his/her experiences. The research work is not always necessary in this form of essay writing. And, the quality of the narrative essay depends on the writer’s storytelling skills.

Before we discuss how to produce an impressive narrative essay, it is important to learn a few basic things about narrative essays.

What Is a Narrative Essay?

As you may have already guessed a bit, a narrative essay is a piece of text where you tell a story. The essays are usually anecdotal, experimental and personal. A writer needs to express his/her story in a creative manner that resonates with the readers.

Like a good story, a narrative essay is told from a defined perspective of the author. So, when you develop a narrative essay, you need to be very clear about your stand on the topic and use your creativity to present the anecdote in the form of the essay.

What is the Narrative Essay Structure and Outline?

The structure of a narrative essay is the same as a regular 5-paragraph essay. If you didn’t know how many paragraphs are in a narrative essay – you could simply refer to any narrative essay template. A good narrative essay usually has one paragraph for the introduction, a minimum of three paragraphs for the main body, and one paragraph as the conclusion.

Introduction

Similar to a majority of the essay introductions, the introduction of a narrative essay also offers a brief insight into what the whole essay is about. Discuss the premise of the story, offer some background details about the topic, and finally, state your thesis or main point of the essay in a single sentence.

Main Body

The main body is where you narrate your story. You can segment this body into three or more paragraphs, depending on the things you have for discussion. It is recommended to discuss different ideas in each paragraph. Also, try to provide a supportive argument for the story and place them logically in the essay's main body.

Conclusion

The conclusion is the final part of the essay, where you sum up the whole major points of the essay and give remark on whether the things you mentioned in the introduction stand true or not. In a narrative essay, you need to reflect on the story you have presented in the essay and highlight what you have learnt from it.

The narrative essay format remains almost the same for everyone. However, it is advised to give priority to the instructions of your professor and make sure you adhere to the formatting guidelines as well. The guideline will tell you how long should it be.

How to Start a Narrative Essay?

As mentioned in the previous segment, the introduction of a narrative essay should offer the readers a glimpse of what they are about the see in the essay. Here, you need to describe the setting of your story (or anecdote), introduce the characters, and tell them about the main point of the essay. So, here is how you should start a narrative essay:

i. Start the essay with a hook

A hook, as the name suggests, is something that grabs the readers’ attention from the very beginning. It can be something that the readers can instantly relate to, or something really intriguing. Since it is the opening line of the essay, you need to make sure it compels the readers to read the entire essay.

ii. Inform the readers, but not too much

The introduction is where you need to provide the readers with some details about the premise of your narrative and give them some information about what you are about to discuss. While doing so, refrain from revealing too much to the readers. The introduction of a good narrative essay generates interest among the readers about the topic. But if you share all the major details in the introduction, people may not bother to read the whole essay till the end.

iii. Present your thesis statement at the end

It is a basic thing to present your thesis statement for the narrative essay at the end of the introduction. Once you are done describing the premise and background of the story, you need to tell your readers what you intend to prove or achieve with your essay. That needs to be represented in a single sentence as clearly as possible.

Here is a tip for all the narrative essay writers. If you cannot think of a great introduction to your narrative essay, leave it for later and start working on the main body. Once you have drafted the main body, you can have a better idea of how you can introduce it to the audience.

How to Write a Personal Narrative Essay for College?

Drafting the main body of the narrative essay becomes a lot easier for the writers if they develop a basic outline for the essay beforehand. Once you have chosen a topic, it is recommended to create an outline for the essay, describing what goes where in the content. This allows you to organise your thoughts in a systematic manner. Moreover, the outline guides you through the whole drafting process like a roadmap.

While writing the essay, keep these following things in mind:

i. Have a clear point of view

You need to describe your ideas to the readers as if you are totally invested in those ideas and have a clear viewpoint on them. This approach allows you to make the essay more personal engaging to the readers.

ii. Use first-person while narrating

Unlike a majority of the essay papers, where you need to maintain a formal tone and write the essay in third-person, narrative essays are more personal. This is why it needs to be described from a writer's point of view, in first-person.

iii. Describe characters and places

While narrating the story, make sure you provide the readers with enough details about the characters and places involved in the story. This allows the readers to visualise the story with precision and improves their reading experience.

An additional tip for the narrative essay writers is to keep the sentences short. It not only improves the readability of the content but also helps avoid errors. Also, be very specific about what you are sharing. Cut off the fluff and present a clear and concise essay to the readers.

How to End a Narrative Essay

Writing the conclusion to your narrative essay is much simpler than all its other segments. If you don’t know what should a writer plan to include in the end of a narrative essay – here are a few things to learn:

i. Give an overview of the essay

The conclusion part should highlight all the major points of the essay while wrapping it up. It’s like a summary of the main body of the essay.

ii. Highlight the takeaways

The conclusion should also reflect on the arguments you present in the main body and give remark on whether the thesis you submitted at the beginning of the essay stands true or not.

iii. Do not introduce any new point

While ending the narrative essay, you should not introduce any new point in it. You can discuss the possibilities about the topic but refrain from adding any new point here.

Once you are done drafting the conclusion and the essay, you need to create the reference list. Here, you need to follow the guideline mentioned in the handbook of the preferred referencing style (APA, MLA, Harvard, Oxford, Chicago, or Vancouver).

Hopefully, now you have all the necessary information for writing a narrative essay. However, if you still need assistance, you can always ask for help from the professionals.

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