Parul University

Faculty of Engineering and Technology

Career Development Centre (CDC)

Semester 2 Narrative Writing

Lecture notes

The definition of narrative is a piece of writing that tells a story, and it is one of four classical rhetorical
modes or ways that writers use to present information. The others include an exposition, which explains
and analyzes an idea or set of ideas; an argument, which attempts to persuade the reader to a particular
point of view; and a description, a written form of a visual experience.

Key Takeaways: Narrative Definition

● A narrative is a form of writing that tells a story.
● Narratives can be essays, fairy tales, movies, and jokes.
● Narratives have five elements: plot, setting, character, conflict, and theme.
● Writers use narrator style, chronological order, a point of view, and other strategies to tell a story.

Narrative Elements
Every narrative has five elements that define and shape the narrative: plot, setting, character, conflict, and
theme. These elements are rarely stated in a story; they are revealed to the readers in the story in subtle or
not-so-subtle ways, but the writer needs to understand the elements to assemble her story.

● The plot is the thread of events that occur in a story.

● The setting is the location of the events in time and place.
● The characters are the people in the story who drive the plot, are impacted by the plot, or may even
be bystanders to the plot.
● The conflict is the problem that is being resolved. Plots need a moment of tension, which involves
some difficulty that requires resolution.
● Most important and least explicit is the theme. What is the moral of the story? What does the writer
intend the reader to understand?

Setting, Tone and Mood

In addition to structural elements, narratives have several styles that help move the plot along or serve to
involve the reader. Writers define space and time in a descriptive narrative and how they choose to define
those characteristics can convey a specific mood or tone.

For example, chronological choices can affect the reader's impressions. Past events always occur in strict
chronological order, but writers can choose to mix that up, show events out of sequence, or the same
event several times experienced by different characters or described by different narrators.

The choice of a narrator is another way that writers set the tone of a piece. Is the narrator someone who
experienced the events as a participant, or one who witnessed the events but wasn't an active participant?
Is that narrator an omniscient undefined person who knows everything about the plot including its ending,
or is he confused and uncertain about the events underway? Is the narrator a reliable witness or lying to
themselves or the reader?
 Point of View

Establishing a point of view for a narrator allows the writer to filter the events through a particular
character. The most common point of view in fiction is the omniscient (all-knowing) narrator who has
access to all the thoughts and experiences of each of her characters. Omniscient narrators are almost
always written in the third person and do not usually have a role in the storyline. The Harry Potter novels,
for example, are all written in third person; that narrator knows everything about everybody but is
unknown to us.

The other extreme is a story with a first-person point of view in which the narrator is a character within
that story, relating events as they see them and with no visibility into other character motivations.
Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" is an example of this: Jane relates her experiences of the mysterious Mr.
Rochester to us directly, not revealing the full explanation until "Reader, I married him."

Points of view can also be effectively shifted throughout a piece—in her novel "Keys to the Street," Ruth
Rendell used limited third-person narratives from the point of view of five different characters, enabling
the reader to assemble a coherent whole out of what first appears to be unrelated stories.

Other Strategies

Writers also use the grammatical strategies of tense (past, present, and future), person (first person,
second person, or third person), number (singular, plural) and voice (active, passive). Writing in the present
tense is unsettling—the narrators have no idea what will happen next—while past tense can build in some
foreshadowing. Many recent novels use the present tense, including "The Martian."

EXAMPLE:

E.B. White, writing columns in 1935's "New Yorker" magazine, often used the plural or "editorial
we" to add a humorous universality and a slow pace to his writing.

"The barber was cutting our hair, and our eyes were closed—as they are so likely to be... Deep in a
world of our own, we heard, from far away, a voice saying goodbye. It was a customer of the shop,
leaving. 'Goodbye,' he said to the barbers. 'Goodbye,' echoed the barbers. And without ever
returning to consciousness, or opening our eyes, or thinking, we joined in. 'Goodbye,' we said,
before we could catch ourselves."—E.B. White "Sadness of Parting."

In contrast, sportswriter Roger Angell (White's stepson) epitomizes sports writing, with a quick,
active voice, and straight chronological snap:

"In September 1986, during a Giants-Braves game out at Candlestick Park, Bob Brenly, playing third
base for San Francisco, made an error on a routine ground ball in the top of the fourth inning. Four
batters later, he kicked away another chance and then, scrambling after the ball, threw wildly past
home in an attempt to nail a runner there: two errors on the same play. A few moments after that,
he managed another boot, thus becoming only the fourth player since the turn of the century to
rack up four errors in one inning."—Roger Angell. "La Vida."

A narrative text can be written in the first and third person and describes a series of events, either
imaginary or based on your own experience. A good narrative should consist of:
1. an introduction in which you describe the background scene and introduce the main character. Try to
make interesting introductions in order to catch the reader's attention. These are questions that could
be answered in the introduction:
When did the story take place? Where were you? What was the weather like? What were you doing
or going to do? Who were you with? What was your relationship with the other character?
2. a main body consisting of two or more paragraphs in which you develop your story in a logical way.
Have a different paragraph for every stage of your story. This will make it easier for the reader to
follow it.
3. a conclusion in which you describe the outcome of the story, you can refer to people’s feelings or you
make comments on the story.

TIPS
● You should never start writing before you have decided on your plot.
● Sequence of events is very important. Use time words such as: at first, before, until, while, during,
then, after, finally, etc.
● Use of various adjectives (disgusting, exhilarating…) and adverbs (fearlessly, surprisingly, etc) to
describe feelings and actions, as well as use of direct speech, as a variety of verbs will make your story
more exciting to read.
● Be careful with the tenses you choose. You can use Past Continuous to set the scene (e.g. it was
raining hard and the wind was blowing as Jonathan drove towards the small cottage), Past Simple to
describe the main events of the story, or Past Perfect to give the background of the story (e.g.
Jonathan had been planning to visit the old cottage for months before he was able to do so).
● Descriptions of people, places, objects or events and descriptive techniques can be used in a narrative
when you want to emphasize specific parts of your narration.
● Use linking words or phrases to join the ideas and make your story flow.

TECHNIQUES TO BEGIN AND END A STORY

A good beginning is as important as a good ending. A good beginning should make your reader want to go
on with your story. A good ending will make your reader feel satisfied.

You can start your story by:

● Describing weather, surroundings, people, etc.
● Using direct speech
● Creating mystery and suspense.

EXAMPLES:

ORDINARY BEGINNING
I woke up and got out of bed. I had a shower, ate breakfast and left

MORE INTERESTING BEGINNING

Bright morning sunlight was shining through my bedroom window when I woke. I lay there lazily for a few
minutes, then jumped out of bed…

You can end you story by:

● Referring to your feelings or moods.
● Describing people’s reactions to the events developed in the main body.
● Creating mystery and suspense.
● Asking a rhetorical question.

SIMPLE ENDING
At last I was home again, and soon went to bed. It had been a tiring day.
MORE INTERESTING ENDING
Exhausted and soaked to the skin, I slammed the front door behind me. I threw myself onto my bed, stared
into the darkness and thought bitterly, “why me?”

ENRICH YOUR VOCABULARY

ADJECTIVES
Delightful, enormous, entire, horrible, massive, superb, terrific, horrifying, gigantic, huge, tiny, nasty,
disgusting, terrible, wonderful, unpleasant, fabulous…
ADVERBS
Sarcastically, angrily, threateningly, frantically, hurriedly, miserably, confidently, suddenly, urgently,
nervously, patiently, calmly…

EXPRESSIONS
It was too good to be true
I couldn’t believe my eyes/luck I was in luck / out of luck Unluckily / luckily
I breathed a sigh of relief I was out of relief
My heart was beating furiously It made me jump
I burst out laughing / into tears

OR

PHRASES
It was a real shock
It was getting on my nerves It was the best/worst ever
I was in good/ bad mood I was left speechless
All of a sudden / suddenly The next thing I knew
To my surprise
Without a doubt / Beyond any doubt

SAMPLE TEXT
I will never forget a date with a guy called David. It all began when a mutual
friend of ours, Anne, gave him my telephone number. We planned to meet one
evening in the town centre, and I imagined a pleasant date in my favourite café
in the centre of town. I was really excited and wore my trendiest clothes.
However, everything went wrong from the first moment.

First of all, I arrived very late because I had missed the bus. Then I introduced
myself to the wrong person! When I eventually saw David (he was wearing a
black jacket as he said he would), I tripped as I approached him and fell at his
feet. After that, we went to a café. I couldn’t think of anything to say and I felt
really stupid. Finally, he made an excuse and left very quickly.

The following day I asked Anne if David had said anything to her. She said that
he thought I was very nice. However, he never got in touch with me again.

5 W+H Questions Method

⮚ Answering the 5W and H questions provides the basic info needed to begin a story.

• WHO will be in the narrative?

• WHERE will the narrative take place?
• WHY will the characters do what they do?
• WHAT is the narrative about?
• WHEN will the events happen?
• HOW will the conflict be resolved?