What is a Narrative Essay?
The first question you need to answer before moving on to how to write a narrative essay is to know what is narrative writing.
As per the narrative essay definition, ‘A narrative essay is the type of essay in which you share your personal experience in a creative and engaging way, just like a good story.’
Like a descriptive essay, these kinds of essays are quite common in high school and college, and students describe their experiences and events in it.
The purpose of a narrative essay is storytelling according to the point of view with specific details. Therefore, a good essay tells an engaging story and inspires the readers to continue.
A good narrative essay is fun to write, interesting to read, and should be meaningful in some way. And most importantly, it should start with an interesting hook.
Therefore, these essays are quite common as scholarship essays also.
Now that you have understood the narrative essay definition let’s take a look at the elements of a narrative essay.
Elements of a Narrative Essay
The plot is the main focus of a narrative essay, which is described with enough detail to build an interesting climax.
- It follows a chronological manner.
- It should have a purpose. Usually, this is stated in the introductory paragraph.
- It may be a good idea to use dialogue.
- It is stated with sensory details and bright descriptions to involve the reader. All these details relate in some way or other to the main point the author is making.
How To Start a Narrative Essay
The opening line of your essay defines how many readers you will retain until the conclusion. A good essay start will definitely make sure the readers are absorbed right from the beginning. Readers will surely appreciate it if they start enjoying the essay from its beginning.
If the start is interesting, the reader will definitely go through the rest of the essay.
To make your essay more impactful, it is important to pay close attention to how to start it.
The opening statement, basically the hook, is the line of your essay that you write. It is the instrument of attack in your narrative essay.
The following are the ways to make sure that your essay hook is to the task for readers to connect with your essay.
- Using a relevant quote
- Using statistics
- Telling an anecdote
- Starting with an intriguing question
- Stating a fact
Narrative Essay Structure and Outline
The first step in writing a narrative essay is to create an outline. An outline is an important part, and it helps to organize and structure the main ideas. It helps to stay focused and maintain a consistent flow throughout the essay.
To help you understand better, we have attached a sample outline of a good essay.
Narrative format is fairly simple and straightforward.
Its five-paragraph essay structure has the following parts:
Introduction
- Start with a hook sentence that will help grab the reader’s attention.
- Consider it as a warm-up for the readers and give them the main idea of what your essay story is all about.
- 3-5 sentences are enough.
Thesis Statement
- Your main argument for the essay, story, confession, or it could be anything that counts as a narrative report.
- Evoke the interest of readers and introduce them to the problem you will discuss.
Body Paragraphs
- Collect supportive arguments for your essay statement and place them in a logical manner.
- Remember: every new idea is a new paragraph.
- 3-5 blocks will be enough.
Conclusion
- This is the part where you summarize the whole essay and prove what you claimed in the introduction.
- 3-5 well-arranged sentences are all needed.
A well-written essay outline points the writer in the right direction and helps him stay focused.
How to Write a Narrative Essay - Step By Step
For good narrative essay writing skills, follow the following steps.
1. Choose Your Topic Carefully
The first step is to pick an interesting and engaging topic for your essay. Choose something that would help you explain your personal experiences engagingly and without dragging.
Your essay is based on your personal narrative; therefore, don't forget to add your voice and sensory details to it.
If you need some great topic ideas for your essay, review these interesting narrative essay topics recommended by experts to help you with your essay.
2. Always Begin With a Draft
Writing a narrative essay will be easy if you will create an outline for it. This will help you to add important details and delete irrelevant information.
These rough drafts are great because you can adjust them accordingly and change them until they are good to go.
Most professional writers see rough drafts as a key step in their writing process.
3. Make Sure You Include Storyline Elements
These essays require storyline elements such as a solid plot, character, setting, and vivid descriptions to add life to your narrative essay.
To make your essay more captivating, you can use literary devices like allegory. However, to get the most out of this technique, check out this comprehensive guide on using allegory in narrative essay writing.
4. Supporting and Proving
Your opinions and thoughts are a part of your narrative essay. However, if needed, you must support your statements with solid description and narration.
When including an argument or a fact in your essay, you need to back it up with facts and cite your sources.
5. Use Simple Language
Make sure that you use simple language to keep your essay easy and simple to read and understand.
Be creative and use compelling words to engage your audience.
6. Take Help From Samples
There are many narrative essay examples that can help you to get a clear idea about the writing techniques to use in your essay.
By reading these short stories and samples, you will develop a good understanding of a well-developed essay and the way its title and basics are used.
7. Double Check the Requirements
Make sure you are following the essay guidelines given by your professor or instructor. Make sure that you have added all the required information and its sources, if you have used any outside links, in it.
8. Revise Your Essay
Always revise your essay before submitting it to your instructor.
Check thoroughly for plagiarism and grammatical errors.
Clarify sentences that may sound unclear or confusing.
Ask a friend or family member to look over your work for errors, the second set of eyes is always helpful.
What Should be Your Tone in Narrative Essay Writing?
In a narrative essay, everything should be written from your own perspective.
Everything should be written in the past tense, as you are sharing your personal experience.
Your essay should contain a central idea that matters to you.
Narrative Essay Format
Now you know how to write a narrative essay. But the story does not end here and what is left is the paper essay format.
Following are the main points that you should take into account when choosing the proper essay format.
- Choose your essay format wisely. APA, MLA, Chicago - depends on the requirements and the subject but please double-check the guidelines from your instructor to do it right from the first try.
- Title page. This is the first that the teacher will see, so spend enough time to make it great.
- Text block. This is the section where Intro-body-conclusion will go.
- References. Every format has its own standards when it comes to a reference list. Avoid mixing them up!
Narrative Essay Examples
Taking help from examples is a great way to learn something in a detailed manner. These examples will help you in understanding how these steps work.
A good essay sample will demonstrate the techniques and explain them practically. This way, you will know how to add the details and use them perfectly.
However, finding a good narrative essay example may be difficult. The Internet is filled with loads of examples and samples, and finding a good one from them is not easy. There are many samples, but not all of them are good to consider.
To help you find a good and remarkable essay, we have added a sample below.
Here are some more narrative essay examples for your guidance.
Writing a good narrative essay may be difficult, but it is not impossible. We know that telling an engaging story is not something that everyone can do but with some practice and lots of imagination, you can do it successfully.
Besides, you can also follow this guide to write a great essay in less time. It has explained all the steps involved in the making of a great essay. Once you are done reading it, you will be on your way to writing a good essay.
After reading our guide to writing a narrative essay you should be able to write it on your own. However, if you are still struggling with your paper. We are here to help.
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