A narrative essay is a piece of writing that tells the reader a story. This story is told in a creative way and is usually written in the past tense. Here is a handy guideline to help you hone your essay-writing skills and produce an excellent narrative essay.

 

The purpose of a narrative essay

 

A narrative essay is meant to tell a story. Many of these essays are based on the writer’s own personal experience. An example of a topic or prompt for this type of essay might be, “Write about one of your achievements that made you proud”, or “Tell a story about your first day of college”.

 

So, does that mean a narrative essay is just a short story? Not exactly. There are plenty of similarities, but a narrative essay requires a specific structure.

Structuring your narrative essay

 

A narrative essay should be structured as follows:

 

• One introductory paragraph
• Three to five main body paragraphs (one per idea/topic)
• One conclusion paragraph

Your introductory paragraph is your opportunity to catch your reader’s attention. Start your essay in a strong, creative and attention-grabbing way; you can do this by opening with a relevant quote, a surprising question or a powerful statement.

 

The length of your essay’s body will vary, depending on how long your story is. After getting your reader’s attention in the introduction, start telling your story, and discuss one idea or topic per paragraph.

 

Your conclusion paragraph should be just as powerful as your introduction. End by summing up what happened and reminding your reader about the overall theme of your story. You can include a creative element like a quote or question, to give them something to think about after they’re finished reading.

 

Note: If a teacher or lecturer assigns you a narrative essay, they are more interested in the way you tell the story (your writing skills) than they are in the topic of the story itself.

 

Linear vs non-linear narrative essays

 

Many narrative essays are written using a linear narrative, while some others may be written in a non-linear way:

 

• Linear: Tells the story in chronological order, I.e. the order that the events happened, from first to last.
• Non-linear: Tells the story with the events out of order, using flashbacks or “jumping around” on the story timeline.

 

Note: Non-linear narratives can be very impactful and creative if they’re done properly. However, they’re often more complicated to write and can be confusing to the reader. If you’re still learning the basics of writing a narrative essay, stick to telling your story in a linear way.

 

Fictional vs non-fictional narrative essays

 

A narrative essay is all about communicating a story, which can be either fiction or non-fiction.

 

• Fiction: Telling an imaginary story based on the writer’s ideas and thoughts.
• Non-fiction: Recounting an event that actually happened, based on real information (including the writer’s memory of the event).

 

The elements of a narrative essay

 

When planning your narrative essay, it’s helpful to ask yourself these questions:

 

• What happened?
• Where did it happen?
• How/Why did it happen?
• Who did it happen to?

 

Answering these questions will help to lead you to the essential elements of a strong narrative essay.

 

• Plot: The sequence of events that you want to write about (i.e. the story).
• Setting: The location where the event/s too place.
• Characters: The people who were involved in the event/s, including main and side characters.
• Conflict: A problem or challenge that the character/s in the story faced, which needed to be resolved.
• Theme: This is the overall purpose for telling the story; your reason for choosing to write about this topic.

It’s also important to think about the perspective of your story. Many narrative essays are written from a first-person perspective (the writer’s point of view).

 

• First-person: If you’re writing about an event that happened to you, it makes sense to use first-person writing (e.g. “I walked into the lecture hall”).
• Third-person: If you are telling someone else’s story, you should use third-person writing (e.g. She walked into the lecture hall”).

 

Writing your essay step by step

 

• Prepare: Plan your story and make sure you have all the information you need.
• Outline: Write the basic outline of your essay, using the structure provided above.
• Write: Flesh out each paragraph, telling the story you want to tell.
• Review: Read your essay to yourself and others, to check for any spelling and grammar issues, and to find out if any parts of your story are unclear or confusing.
• Edit: Fix these issues before submitting your essay to be marked.

 

Find some free narrative essay templates available online, and start practicing today. We hope these tips help you with your writing process!

 

 

References

1. National Department of Basic Education – Republic of South Africa. Guideline for teaching and writing essays and transactional texts. English Grades 10 – 12. 2014. https://www.education.gov.za/Portals/0/CD/Computer/Self-Study_English_Gr_10-12.pdf?ver=2014-04-03-090720-000
2. My Perfect Words. Narrative Essay – A Complete Writing Guide with Examples. https://www.myperfectwords.com/blog/narrative-essay
3. Papers Owl. How to write a narrative essay: general guidelines. 2021. https://papersowl.com/blog/how-to-write-narrative-essay
4. How to write a narrative essay – example & tips. 2020. https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/narrative-essay/