How To Write A Narrative Essay? – Guidelines And Tips To Follow

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If you are wondering how to write a narrative essay, you need to have a story of your own or something that you know personally. In fact, narrative essays are a combination of professional writing and personal details.

To write a narrative essay, you need a genuine personal experience that you can share.

A narrative essay tells a coherent story that resonates with a particular story to the readers. Here comes the importance of writing something that aims to convey a lesson through personal experience.

A narrative essay also regards the idea of self-reflection. Commonly, schools and college students write narrative essays as a part of their assignment, but this is a skill that you would like to explore and habit in your writing genre.

Therefore, you must have a strong grip with the idea of a strong narrative. If you are keen to understand this genre of writing, I have curated some key points to let you explore and understand narrative essay essentials.

Narrative Introduction

While writing the introduction of a narrative essay, place yourself in a reader’s position. Now think about it! Would you like to read a whole story that fails to attract you in the beginning? 

Not at all! Similarly, an introduction of a narrative essay must be interesting. 

However, a narrative essay is about telling a story, including events. Therefore, in most cases, you can introduce the narrative in the middle of the essay. And use an eye-catching introductory sentence that sets the tone of the story. For instance, check out this line –

• “No cricket anymore!”- still rang in my ears, making it feel like I had made a stupid decision in my life.

Providing this as a background of your narrative as an introductory sentence will allow the reader to engage in your story quite easily.

How to Write a Narrative Essay? – Guidelines

Apart from the introduction, you also have other sections to check out. Narrative essays are where a writer gets complete flexibility to write what they actually feel. It comes with a vivid plot, sensory information and thick descriptions of each event.

However, to craft a compelling narrative essay, you must have to go through a few creative steps and guidelines. Unlike descriptive or analytical essays, Narrative essays follow a personal alignment with experience.

Number 1: Brainstorming

Always remember, if you do not have a personal experience to share, the narrative will be hard to establish as genuine to the readers. So, before you start writing, brainstorming becomes essential. 

Try to go with a story or event that you have witnessed to keep the natural flow of writing intact.

However, you can try to imagine and then write as well, but the result would not be that great. Narrating your experience is the key to forming a perfect narrative essay. If you think that you cannot share that experience, don’t go with it.

Instead, try something that you do not have any problem to share with the readers. Exposure is a must in narrative writing. The more you share, the more the readers will believe.

Also, try not to overlook the instructions given by your professor. Check it out again and again, and if needed discuss with the instructor before you start writing.

Number 2: Draft

We all know that writing becomes perfect with practice. Therefore, create a draft of your essay paper so that you can change or edit things accordingly.

Remember that narrative essays are generally a little long; therefore, creating a fair copy on the first go is something I would not personally suggest. A draft lets you check whether or not you have met all the criteria. Use this process for creating a draft. 

• Narrative essays are written in the first person.
• When something is written using ‘I,’ it provides a sense of engagement to the readers.
• While providing any information, make sure that you are specific about it. Since readers have no prior knowledge about the characters you are writing about, it is important to give a detailed outlook. 
• The very purpose of writing a narrative essay is to engage the readers as much as possible; remember, you are narrating a story, not simply telling a story. 
• Narrative essays are mostly nonfictional, but you must not overlook the fictional aspects. It makes your creative power stronger. 

Number 3: Selecting The Elements And Point Of View

While learning how to write a narrative essay, you must ensure that the stories contain a plot, characters, and explanation. These elements help catch the reader’s attention. It makes them realize what they would have done if they were in the character’s shoes. As a narrative essay writer, you have to ensure that all these elements are present in your essay. 

A narrative essay is all about what you say. Therefore, try to write in the first person and create a sense that you have experienced everything and your opinion here is imposed completely.

Also, writing in the first person makes it more engaging, and you get more space to write what you feel.

Number 4: Writing Clearly

This is one of the most important guidelines for learning how to write a narrative essay. You should write your narrative essay clearly in English. You should not use a lot of jargon and technical terms. 

You have to ensure that everybody reading your essay is able to understand it clearly. Do not use the English language. That is too tough. The more people understand what you are writing about, the more they get connected.  

Number 5: Proofreading

Proofreading is the last step of learning how to write a narrative essay. It might not look like a big deal but trust me, it is. A narrative essay that is not proofread can make all the efforts of the writer go in vain. Review your narrative for plagiarism, grammatical errors. 

If you see that some sentences are too wordy, then rewrite them. Your sentences should be short and simple. Do not shy away from asking your teachers and friends. If you are using a computer to write an essay, ensure that you have made your essay go through Grammarly and Copyscape.  

What Should Be The Length Of A Narrative Essay?

There is no particular length to follow as long as your instructor is giving you any follow ups. However, you can keep it under 2000 words to tell your story, share your understanding and experience, and, in the end, reflect on it comfortably. 

Also, do not write too much, as it might bore the reader.

Different Formats of Narrative Essay

Narrative essays follow a common format-

• Exposure
• Discussion
• Climax
• Concluding statement

These essays can be framed in several formats, but that commonly depends on how the story is told.

• Linear narrative
• Flashback narrative
• Chronological narrative
• Framed narrative

Each of these narrative structures presents a unique idea of storytelling. For instance, the linear narrative follows a straightforward order, while the flashback narrative entails the past followed by the present. 

Therefore, based on your requirements, you can create your narrative but keep the basic idea intact.

Final Thoughts 

Now when you know how to write a narrative essay, I hope you are all set to go for your first knowledgeable assignment. It is not just about learning but implementing what you know.

Therefore, pick what you need from here and apply it in your next narrative essay. This is a chance for you to create your very own first narrative essay that not only sounds familiar to readers but also grips well with proper formation, including exposure, discussion, and climax.

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