Category Archives: English Writing Instruction

A narrative essay is a short story.  It has all the parts of a short story—a beginning, a middle, and an end.  But that doesn’t tell you how to begin or what to include.  Wouldn’t it be nice if there were some formula, some plan, that would help you get going?  Well, there is.  Here’s how: 

On your planning paper or computer screen, write the word “setting.” Now draw two small arrows from the end of “setting.”  Next to the top arrow write the word “place.”  After the word “place,” identify the location of your narrative essay.  It’s easier if you have only one place such as your math classroom, the soccer field or the airplane gate.  If you have two or more places, your essay will get complicated.  Since you are at the stage when you need a pattern to follow, keep things simple.  Identify one location only.

After the bottom arrow, write the words “time/day/season.” Identify when your story takes place.  Sometimes a general idea, like “morning” is enough.  If the day of the week or the season or temperature or climate is important to your story, identify them.  Usually, you will identify only one or two of these times.

Stories are about people or animals–living creatures, so identify characters: the people and animals important in your story. Sometimes that person will be you.  (Write “me.”)  Sometimes it will be named people.  Other times it will be unnamed people whose relationship is important such as the bus driver or the stray dog.  Keep your list short—maybe two or three characters.  The more characters you use, the more complicated your story will become.  Identify which character is the protagonist, the central character of your story.

Identify the point of view (POV) your story will have: first person (told by someone who is part of the story); or third person objective (told from the POV of a video taper of your story who does not know what people are thinking); or third person limited (told from the POV of someone who can hear the thinking of one or more of the characters).

Identify the problem to be solved (sometimes called the theme) in your story. Is it about a student forgetting her lunch?  Is it about your mother nagging you to do your homework?  Is it about an athlete breaking his leg running to first base?  Every story needs a problem for the main character to solve or to learn from.

Identify the major plot points in your story, the important happenings in your story. A story has to start somewhere.  That’s the first plot point.  Something has to happen to cause a problem.  That might be the same plot point (if you start in the middle of the action, which is a good idea) or it might be the second plot point if you include exposition.  Later, something or somethings have to happen to complicate the action and to head your characters toward the end, the last plot point.

Identify the mood you want to convey. Is your story frightening?  Funny?  Nostalgic?  Mysterious?  You need to know before you begin so you know what kind of vocabulary and sentences to use, what to highlight, and what to hide.

Now you can almost begin.  Read next week’s blog for how to start that first paragraph.