Writing
Narrative Structure
and Devices
Character description, setting description, suspense, humour and twist
Writing – Narrative Structure and Devices 1
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In any narrative, there are a number of features we have to include. Without these features,
our story isn’t going to be a good one. Now let’s see what they are.
1. CHARACTER DESCRIPTION
Can there be a movie without actors or cartoon characters? No.
In the same way, we cannot write a story without characters. Depending on the type of our
story, we can have various types of characters. For example, there could be a family, people,
fairies, animals, robots, ghosts etc.
When we are putting the characters to the story, it is very important to
describe the characters. This is called the character description.
Our character description may include below features:
1. Appearance (ex: tall, short, fat, pointy nose, big ears, curly hair, blue eyes etc.)
2. Dress (ex: long frock, torn shirt, denim trousers, broken shoes, black suit etc.)
3. Qualities (ex: cunning, rude, kind, friendly, funny, silly etc.)
4. Other qualities (ex: bad smell, rough voice etc.)
In examinations, please keep below facts in mind.
- We may not be able to describe all these features because the time is limited. Then we
have to select some of the important features.
- There may be a number of characters in our story. Because the time is limited, let’s
describe only one character (the main character) in detail. Let’s describe the other
characters very briefly.
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Writing – Narrative Structure and Devices 2
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Examples of character descriptions from popular books:
In a palm tree, on an island in the middle of the wide, blue sea was a girl.
Nim’s hair was wild, her eyes were bright and around her neck she wore three cords. One
was for a spyglass, one for a whirly, whistling shell and the other a fat, red pocket knife in a
sheath.
(Nim’s Island – Wendy Orr)
Fred was an iguana, spiky as a dragon with a cheerful snub nose.
(Nim’s Island – Wendy Orr)
Aunt Sponge was enormously fat and very short. She had small piggy eyes, a sunken mouth,
and one of those white flabby faces that looked exactly as though it had been boiled. She was
like a great white soggy overboiled cabbage. Aunt Spiker on the other hand, was lean and tall
and bony and she wore steel-rimmed spectacles that fixed onto the end of her nose with a
clip. She had a screeching voice and long wet narrow lips, and whenever she got angry or
excited, little flecks of spit would come shooting out of her mouth as she talked.
(James and the Giant Peach – Roald Dahl)
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Writing – Narrative Structure and Devices 3
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He saw an old man in a funny dark green suit emerging from the bushes. He was a very small
old man, but he had a huge bold head and face that was covered all over with bristly black
whiskers. His voice was very slow and creaky.
(James and the Giant Peach – Roald Dahl)
Tip: Don’t put too many characters if they are not necessary.
In your story, Lilly goes on a picnic with her friends and one girl goes missing. Now there
are nine friends remaining and all of them are doing different things to find the missing girl.
This is going to be an interesting story, but it will become boring because there are too many
characters. Reader will get confused by the different actions of Sally, Anne, Joe, Tom, Mary
etc. So it is better not to include too many similar types of characters.
But it is ok to introduce many different types of characters if your story needs them.
Ex: the train driver, stationmaster, porter (don’t put five porters), passenger, robber,
policeman, kid etc.
However, you will have to keep the number of characters to a minimum if you are going to
write the story within a limited time (ex: in your school examination)
2. SETTING DESCRIPTION
In stories, there are lots of incidents. These incidents happen in various places. These places
are called settings. Below are some of the places where the incidents in your story may take
place.
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Writing – Narrative Structure and Devices 4
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- School
- A jungle
- A shopping mall
- In an aeroplane
- A cottage in a remote farm
- A spooky castle
When we are writing a story, it is very important to describe the setting (where
the story happens). This is called the setting description.
If your setting description is successful, reader will get a full image of the place in his or her
mind.
You can describe settings using five senses.
5. Sight
Ex: - Jack saw a thick, black smoke.
- The lion was coming towards me.
6. Sound
Ex: - The fairy heard a lovely music coming from the cottage.
- I heard a fierce growling sound. It was a tiger!
7. Smell
Ex: - Nice smell of the flowers made me happy.
- Mum ran to the kitchen because a burning smell was coming from that side.
8. Touch or what you feel
Ex: - It was very hot outside in the backyard.
- All of a sudden she felt sharp pain in her leg.
9. Taste
Ex: - That liquid in the glass tasted bad.
- The biscuits were so crunchy and tasty.
Please keep below facts in mind.
- In some cases, it will be difficult to describe taste because your characters may not eat
anything during the incidents. But try to include other senses.
- In examinations, story may continue to happen in a number of places. Because the
time is limited, you may describe one place in details. You can introduce the other
places very briefly.
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Writing – Narrative Structure and Devices 5
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Examples of setting descriptions:
Emma opened her eyes and found herself in a sunny park. There were lots of trees. Right
behind her was a rosebush. Emma turned around to smell the beautiful flowers. In front of her
was a huge playground with swings and slides and other things to play on. She heard the
laughter of boys and girls playing, so she ran over to join them. She gripped the round rough
rope ladder and climbed up onto a platform that stood next to an apple tree full of ripe red
apples. She took a big bite. The apple was juicy and crunchy. Emma thought it was the best
apple she ever tasted.
Steven looked around in surprise. Where was he? He was standing on what looked like a train
tunnel. There were smooth walls on either side of him, but there were no train tracks beneath
his feet. The wind whistled through the tunnel and he pulled his jacket closer around him for
warmth. He became aware of birdcalls in the distance and he could see sunlight through the
cracks in the walls. As his ears became used to the noises around him, he hears the sound of
the running water. He walked through the tunnel towards the sound. He was so thirsty. After
a few moments, he emerged into a forest clearing with a running stream. He cupped his hands
and drank fresh, cold water.
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Writing – Narrative Structure and Devices 6
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Exercises:
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Writing – Narrative Structure and Devices 7
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3. Suspense
In stories, sometimes you know that something is going to happen, but you or the characters
don’t know what it is or when. This uncertain situation is called suspense.
Suspense creates curiosity in the mind of the reader. Therefore it will make the story very
interesting and your reader will not put it away.
Please try to include suspense into your narratives.
Examples:
1. Uncertainty:
Hero of the story went into a dark room or a spooky building.
1. Danger:
The crocodile was trying to swallow Pat, but he was successfully holding its jaws. But
he began to feel a pain from his bleeding hand. He felt that he was losing his energy
fast. He couldn’t hold the beast’s jaws any more.
2. Danger:
A deadly storm was coming and the authorities warned people to evacuate the houses
within 30 minutes or risk their lives. Now only five minutes are left for the storm to hit
the town. Richard’s dad is still trying to start the car. All the neighbors have already
left.
3. Mystery:
Sound of my footsteps echoed in the spooky corridor. I was scared, but I made up my
mind to proceed because Tom was coming with me. I turned back to talk to him, but
he was nowhere to be seen. His torch and hat were lying on the floor. I started
shivering with terror.
4. Reader knows that something is going to happen, but the characters don’t.
Anne was playing with her little sister in the play room. She knew that they could play
as much as they wanted because mum and dad would not return until the evening.
They had gone for shopping. But she didn’t know that the two notorious burglars had
already entered the house. They were tip-toeing towards their room.
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Writing – Narrative Structure and Devices 8
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4. Humour
You can include some mild joke or a funny incident to your story to make the reader laugh.
This is called humour.
With one or two sentences, you can add some humour to the text. Readers will like it.
You can put humor even during very serious situations.
Examples:
1. Jack had nowhere to run. The bear had cornered him to the far end of the cave. It
slowly walked to Jack, growling loudly.
Jack knew that he was helpless. But he shouted, ‘You ugly monster, you can eat me if
you want. But will you please stop growling? Your mouth stinks.’
2. Finally, dad and the neighbors brought embarrassed Sally down from the tree. Then
dad said, ‘Remember Sally, don’t climb trees again if you don’t know how to get
down yourself.”
At the same time, her little brother appeared from the crowd and said, ‘Welcome back
to the earth again, you little tree-tonaut!’.
Sally started chasing behind him.
3. My pet dog, Tiny, cornered the robber to the laundry room. It was about to jump on to
him like a hero when a startled mouse fell down from the ceiling. Scared Tiny jumped
up, ran to the shivering robber and hid behind him.
4. It was getting dark and we were trying to find our way back to the camp. I told Sam,
‘Hey, we have got another trouble. A heavy rain is coming. Just now a big raindrop
fell onto my head.’
Then Sam said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s not rain. But you have to wipe your head. There is
a bird sitting on the branch over you.’
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Writing – Narrative Structure and Devices 9
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5. Narrative Twist (Sudden Change of the Plot)
Narrative twist is a sudden and unexpected change in the story.
While reading the narrative, the reader normally guesses what would happen next. If
everything happens in the way your reader has guessed, the narrative will not be that
interesting.
A twist makes the reader’s guesses wrong. It will create some shock and take the story in a
different direction. So the reader will find the story more exciting and will keep on reading it
to find out what happens next.
Examples:
1. After a busy day, Joe was happily walking home along the street. His happiness didn’t
last long. He couldn’t believe what he saw. He froze like a statue. There was a fire
truck in front of his house!
2. The net fell down when Joe pulled the rope. Then it fell on the robber. The intruder
was trapped. He wriggled. He squirmed. Nothing helped. After calling the police
emergency, Joe approached the robber who was wrapped like a toffee. He couldn’t
believe his eyes. The robber was Tim, his neighbour!
3. Mr Mason rose unsteadily from his chair and walked to the table on the side to bring
the gemstone. The buyer was ready to pay a million dollars for it. So all his money
problems were going to be over. At the next second, all his hopes got shattered. The
gem was missing!
4. Sam was driving fast along the winding road. We were relieved that there was enough
time for us to reach to the safety of the town before the storm hit the mountains. Then
we saw it there – a tree had fallen across the road!
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