Narrative Writing

 Ensure that your response is a well organised and thoughtful interpretation of which
ever title you choose

 Demonstrate your ability to shape a narrative, including moments of tension and

drama

 Use characterisation to create believable protagonists and characters

 Avoid cliches or over-used narratives, such as abandoned cabins in the woods

 Do not just “tell” a series of events:

o Consider imaginative ways to tell your story, apart from just a chronological
account

o Include your characters’ thoughts and feelings, not just what happens

 Do not over-complicate your language unnecessarily:

o Do not underestimate the power of simple words and sentences to create

powerful effects

 Start at your story’s main setting, not in the journey or build up

 Ensure that all of the words you choose contribute to the overall atmosphere and
effect you want to create

 Vary your sentence and paragraph lengths to keep the style and tone dynamic

 Do not over-use dialogue:

o Only use dialogue if it drives forward the plot and you are able to punctuate it
correctly

 Consider the “message” of your story and how your characters represent this

 Consider the narrative perspective which will work most effectively for your story

Stage Description of narrative structure

Step 1 Exposition (setting Stick to one main setting and start at the location:
the scene)
 Do not include a lengthy 'journey' before the main action of your story
 starts

Hook your reader:

 Give them clues as to what will happen later, but do not give everything
away all at once

Decide which narrative perspective and tense you are going to write your story
in:

 First person 'I' and the past tense are easier to control
 Stick to no more than two characters and introduce them

Employ the five senses to create an atmosphere:

 The scene's mood should reflect your main character's mood

This paragraph could end with an 'inciting incident', which prompts the rising
action and moves the story forward
This paragraph should build tension, drama or interest:

 It should directly lead to the turning point of the story (the 'climax')

Step 2 Rising action This paragraph should also develop your character(s):

 You could use dialogue, monologue, direct or indirect characterisation to

create well-rounded, 3D characters

This is the turning point of your story:

 It is the moment everything changes and your character(s) cannot go back

Your protagonist could face an external problem, or an internal choice or

Step 3 Climax dilemma:

 Their choice is made in this paragraph

You should vary your sentence structure, length and language here for dramatic
effect
What happens in this paragraph should be as a direct result of the climax
paragraph:

 It shows the consequences

Step 4 Falling action
 It should also focus on your characters' thoughts and feelings as a result of
the climax of the story
 This further develops a sense of characterisation

Step 5 Resolution or You can choose to resolve your story, or end on a cliff-hanger:
denouement/final
scene  However, a cliff-hanger is not a sudden ending; it is a suspenseful ending
 It is also important to avoid cliches, such as 'I woke up and it was all a
 dream.'

Your setting and atmosphere could reflect a change from the setting or
atmosphere you established in your opening paragraph:

 Or it could refer back to imagery you used in your opening paragraph to

create a cyclical structure

*Remember, each paragraph does not have to be the same length. In fact, better answers vary
the lengths of their paragraphs for effect. What is important is to develop separate ideas or
points in each paragraph, and to avoid repeating the same descriptions throughout your
response.

Narrative writing techniques

Once you have planned out the structure of your narrative, it’s a good idea to consider how to
incorporate methods and techniques into your response. Below we have included some
guides to help you when thinking about setting, characterisation and other linguistic
techniques to make your narrative as engrossing as possible.

Setting

As this task assesses the ability to communicate clearly, effectively and imaginatively, it is
important to consider how to use language constructively in a short story to convey an
atmosphere or mood. Building an effective setting is key as it contributes to atmosphere and
mood.

 Your setting should reflect your main character’s mood:

o You may know this as pathetic fallacy, which reflects the character’s mood in
the environment, e.g., “the lonely road”
 As your setting reflects your character’s mood, your setting may change as the story
progresses:
o Contrasting scenes is an effective way to convey ideas and to engage your
reader:
 For example, your story may have started on a sunny afternoon, but
may end as the sun sets or as a storm approaches
o Whatever way you decide to contrast the scenes, ensure it reflects your
character’s mood
 The best answers build a clear setting before introducing other information, such as
introducing character:
o Describing setting is best done with sensory language as we experience
places with all of our five senses
 oThis means you could describe the dark, light, colours, sounds, smells and
weather
o The best way to clearly create setting is to allow an entire paragraph to
describe the scene without confusing readers with other information like who
is there
o Ensure all of your descriptive language builds the same mood and avoid
mixing ideas. For example: “The graveyard was dark, cold and smelled like
fragrant flowers” is confusing for your reader
 However, do not give too much away all at once!
o Keep your reader guessing and asking questions, such as “What is going on?”,
“Why is this like this?” and “Who is this?”
o Think of establishing a setting a bit like the game “Taboo”, in which you have
to describe something without stating explicitly what it is

Characterisation

This question asks you to create a short story and therefore you will need to build some
elements of detailed characterisation. This means you need to consider what your
character(s) represent. They may represent an idea, such as hope or strength or abandonment,
or you could include a villain to represent injustice or evil. It is best to limit yourself to two
characters in the time you have.

Well-rounded characters are taken on a journey: a character should undergo some form of
development or change. The mark scheme rewards answers which clearly and effectively
convey ideas, meaning that you need to consider the most effective ways of building a
character in a short piece of writing. Ideally, you should focus more on indirect
characterisation than direct characterisation:

Direct characterisation Indirect characterisation

 The writer describes the character through  The writer hints to the reader what the
narration character is like
 The writer describes the character’s physical  An impression is formed of the
appearance, personality and the things that character through their speech,
motivate them thoughts and feelings, interactions with
 It is useful for giving broad details in a other characters and what other
sentence or two, but if used too much direct characters say or think about them
characterisation will result in superficial  It is useful for developing more
characters that a reader is not able to relate to complex, well-rounded characters that
or engage with engage the reader
 This is “telling”  This is “showing”

Here, we will consider how to plan your character(s) effectively to engage your reader. This
is what the examiner is looking for in your answer:

Characterisation
Appearance (direct Your character’s appearance may not always be relevant:
characterisation)
 It is worth considering if it is necessary to describe the
colour of your characters’ hair, for example
  Usually appearance is important if your character
represents something, for example, a king, a soldier or
someone in trouble
 Facial expressions or descriptions can convey character
effectively. For example, “her tear-stained face” or “he
frowned”
 If you choose to write in first-person, remember that it is
rare that we describe our own appearance
 Third-person perspective can describe appearance more
effectively

One of the most effective ways to describe a character is through

their movements:

 This is the way we judge people most accurately

 Consider how you can describe your characters’ emotions
Movements and body language or circumstances using movements, e.g., “His head
(indirect characterisation) dropped”
 Verbs and adverbs can be used to effectively
build characterisation
 If you are including dialogue, think about alternative verbs
to “said”, such as “whispered” or “bellowed”

If you use the first-person perspective, a monologue helps readers

engage with the character:

 This creates a personal tone and engagement with the

character
Monologue (indirect  You can create a character’s “voice” using punctuation,
characterisation) such as short sentences or questions:
o A short sentence indicates your character may be
nervous, for example
 Using emotive language will help your reader understand
your character better

Dialogue can convey the relationships between your characters

and provide insights into what other characters think about each
other:

 It is best to limit dialogue in your story, especially if you

Dialogue (direct and indirect
are not absolutely certain how to punctuate it correctly
characterisation)
 Use speech marks and punctuation accurately
 Carefully consider how the dialogue conveys an idea:
o Do not include dialogue which does not progress
the characterisation or plot

Linguistic devices
When considering your choice of language and the techniques you wish to employ, you must
always remember that you are making deliberate choices for effect. It is important to consider
the connotations of words and phrases, and how these may add depth to your writing. For
example, do your word choices evoke certain emotions or feelings in the reader, or do they
reveal aspects of a character’s personality, background or emotions? You should employ the
principle of “show, not tell” in order to bring your writing to life in the reader’s mind.

Below you will find a brief explanation of some of the key techniques you could employ in
your narrative (or descriptive) writing:

Device or
Explanation Example
technique
Throughout life, I have learnt
Repeating a word, phrase, image or idea. This is
never to give up: never give up
much more effective if you think of repetition as
Repetition on my dreams; never give up
a motif that you use throughout your piece of
on my hopes and never give up
writing
on myself.
Remember, the words starting with the same
consonant sound do not have to be consecutive. The swirling mist silently
Alliteration
Consider the effect you are trying to achieve settled on the sleeping town.
through the use of alliteration
She was the chief lioness
Metaphors can be as simple as figures of speech,
among us, fierce, determined
Metaphor but are especially effective where they are
and strong. It was she who
extended and developed
brought us all together.
The weary old tree, its gnarled
A great way to create atmosphere at the start of
branches outstretched like
Personification your writing is by personifying the setting to your
weathered arms, whispered
story or description
ancient wisdom to the breeze.
The representation of sound on paper should be
more sophisticated than comic-book terms such as The crackling fire whispered
“boom”. It is also not helpful to put onomatopoeic its secrets along with the gentle
Onomatopoeia
words all in capital letters. Consider sound as a pop and sizzle of the logs as
way of evoking the senses in order to create they surrendered to the flames.
atmosphere
Her smile was as radiant as the
A simple comparison using “like” or “as” should
Simile early morning sun on a
be used sparingly, as this creates more impact
summer’s day.
The sun-kissed waves crashed
Engages the reader’s senses by using vivid and
against the golden shore, their
Imagery detailed language to create an image in the reader’s
frothy white caps glistening in
mind
the morning light.
Thе еlеgant ballroom was
adornеd with еxquisitе
Places two contrasting ideas, images or concepts
chandеliеrs and finе artwork,
Juxtaposition side by side to highlight their differences or to
whilе thе servants' quartеrs
create a striking effect
bеlow hеld nothing but barе
walls.
Emotive Words or phrases that are intentionally used to The devastating aftermath left
 a trail of destruction, sorrow
language evoke a strong emotional response in the reader
and misery.
Verbs are doing, action or being words. Power
verbs are the deliberate, interesting choice of verb The man stooped, bumbling
Power verbs
to help the reader picture what you are writing. slowly towards the entrance.
They can be especially useful for characterisation
The ability to evoke a specific mood or feeling that The lonely road beckoned him
Pathetic fallacy
reflects a character’s internal or emotional state onwards with no end in sight.