Narrative

What Makes a Good Narrative?

Good narratives bring readers into the story and leave them with something in the end—increased awareness, a lesson, a laugh, or just something to think about. They recreate the events for readers so that readers feel like they are in the story. They include specific details about characters and settings so the reader can see the story take place. Most importantly, they follow an interesting, well-developed plot and have a main point or resolution. Thus, the best narratives are generally well- planned and carefully revised to create an enjoyable, meaningful story.

Choose a topic/incident and theme that will be interesting to write and read about.

• • Select a topic or incident that you remember or can picture well.
  • Choose a story with meaning that can be generalized.
    • Think about why the story is important to you. Does it have a common topic or theme to which your readers can relate?
    • Look for universal themes within your story—is your story about relationships, personal struggle, revenge, or another common human emotion or experience?
    • When planning, work these universal, generalizable themes into your plot to help the reader connect with your story.
  • Clarify basic details in the story before writing.
    • Where does the story take place?
    • What is the main point of conflict which the story is about?

Most successful stories focus on one central point of conflict, whether they are a short essay or a long novel. The main conflict is the ‘point’ of the story and should drive the plot. The story’s events build to the climax of this point of conflict, involving the reader in the actions and emotions that make the conflict meaningful.

The point of conflict of a story can be anything but usually follows a universal theme, such as:

• • Man vs. man—the conflict is between two (or more) characters or groups of characters
  • Man vs. nature—the conflict is between the main character and the environment; often a story of struggle and survival
  • Man vs. society—the main character is in a struggle with his society, for instance, a struggle of acceptance, recognition, or overcoming persecution
  • Man vs. him/herself—the main character is in a struggle with himself or to find himself; often a story of epiphany or self-realization
  • Man vs. supernatural—the main character is in a struggle with someone or something that is not physical (i.e., fate, the Gods, ghosts)

Once you’ve decided on a type of conflict, ask the following questions:

• • What events introduce and build up this conflict in the story?
  • Who are the major and minor characters taking part in the action?
  • How is the conflict resolved?

Stories don’t just end at the climax; they give readers a sense of closure by telling them how the conflict was resolved. Wrap up your storylines and provide enough ‘falling action’ to satisfy your readers’ curiosity.

• • What message, lesson, or new awareness do you want your readers to take from the story?

Decide where you want the story to lead before you begin writing to keep yourself focused. Try to draw in the main message or lesson throughout your story so that the reader can relate it to the story more easily.

Plan before you write.

Because plot and detail are so important to narratives, prewriting about your topic can be especially useful. There are many prewriting practices like freewriting and storymapping that you can use, but always be sure to consider the following critical narrative elements when you prewrite.

In freewriting, you set a time limit to write about the topic, without paying attention to grammar, style, or writing complete sentences.

• • Set a time limit to freewrite. Keep periods of freewriting short to allow you to review and refocus and to avoid going too far off-topic.
  • Write down everything that comes into your mind when you think about your topic.
  • Go back and re-read what you wrote.
  • Highlight parts that you think are interesting and will use later.
  • Fill in extra details, if desired.

Continue freewriting until you think you have enough ideas to work with. Then, organize and piece together ideas from your freewriting to build your plot and story.

In storymapping, you write out the events of your plot and outline your characters, creating a ‘roadmap’ for writing your story. Make an outline or graphic to help you fill in the plot elements listed here.

• • Initial situation (exposition)
  • Problem (conflict)
  • Rising action
  • Climax
  • Falling action (dénouement)
  • Resolution (conclusion)

Find your narrative voice.

If you have done your planning and prewriting, then you probably have a pretty good outline or skeleton of your storyline, characters, and settings. As you write and revise, flesh out your storyline with details and dialogue to draw the reader in.

Select a consistent voice through which to narrate, or tell, your story.

• • Determine whether you will write in the first-person, using I, or the third-person, using he or she to describe your main character.
  • Choose a narrator or viewpoint from which the story will be told.
    • Most narratives are told through the voice of a character or through an omniscient presence. Thus, they are generally told from the first-person perspective using “I” if a character is narrating the story or from the third-person using “he, she, and they”.
  • Develop a style for your narrative voice that fits your story.
    • Often, narratives take on the voice of the narrator to give the story more personality. Whether you use an omniscient, more formal voice or a character’s voice with more personality, use a consistent style throughout your narrative.
  • Use proper grammar and spelling for the bulk of your narrative; reserve characteristic language, slang, and jargon for dialogue.
    • Using language that follows sound spellings, casual usage, and slang adds character to a narrative; however, it is usually best to use proper grammar and spelling for non-dialogue portions. Using proper grammar and spelling helps keep your meaning clear. If you choose to use more characteristic language, make sure that your audience will be able to understand your writing.

Develop intriguing characters.

• • Identify the characters who take part in your narrative’s events.
    • Who is the main character?
    • Which characters provide conflict?
    • With whom does the main character interact regularly?
    • What supporting characters are needed?
  • Brainstorm and record characters’ characteristics, relationships, and roles.
    • How would you describe each character?
    • What does each character look and sound like?
    • What is each character’s role in the story?

For example, a character could be a mentor for the main character. On the other hand, one could provide a model of how the main character should not act, such as a bully would.

• • • How are characters related to one another?

For example, characters may be lifelong friends since they were very young, newlyweds, or a grandparent who is very close to their grandchild. Knowing these details ahead of time will help you form a consistent, moving story.

• • • Do characters have special trademarks, such as gestures or catchphrases, that set them apart?
  • Select the characteristics and features that are most interesting and relevant to develop in your narrative.
    • Consider the purpose of your story. Which characteristics will help readers understand the importance of each character to your narrative?
    • Select the features and details of each character that make him or her interesting and different, or that make him or her relatable and familiar.
    • Work on your descriptions of these characteristics and features to develop characters that your readers will be able to picture and feel like they know.

Make a scene!

The initial scene in a story is more than just a place.  It’s a tool for introducing characters, conflicts, themes, and elements of the setting ,such as time, place, and the history of people and places important to the story.

• • Set the scene for your story through a meaningful initial situation.
  • Choose a scene that will introduce your readers to the main character, conflict, and plot.
  • Use a scene that foreshadows the action to come or create a ‘flashback’ by telling the story from the present time looking back.
  • If your point has a universal message or lesson, allude to it early so the reader can start picking up on meaningful clues.
  • Use rising action to create suspense and flow in your narrative.
    • Fill out your rising action—let action and events move your narrative along and introduce new characters.
    • Use these bits of action to explain and support the main point of your story.
    • Describe the setting of each scene or event if new to the narrative.
  • Use time markers to put a time frame on the events of your story.

Use your words.

• • When introducing new characters, work character descriptions into the action.
  • Avoid long paragraphs of description without action.
  • Recreate each scene for your readers through sensory detail.
    • Bring each scene to life by describing how it looked, felt, sounded, and smelled.
    • Use a variety of sensory details to help the reader feel like they were in the scene.
    • Use descriptive adjectives to describe sensory details.

This word list can help you find descriptive, exciting adjectives to add sensory detail to your narrative. Make sure you know what words mean before using them.

• • Use dialogue to bring your characters and scenes to life.
    • • Use characters’ own words and conversations to relay information and action.
      • Let characters speak in their own voice—use language styles that help build each character. Be careful to not be offensive, and use proper spelling where possible.
      • When formatting dialogue, remember to use quotation marks before and after each bit of spoken text.
  • Introduce dialogue with a variety of interesting, descriptive dialogue tags.

• • Set each string of dialogue on its own line to separate it from the text and from other characters’ speech.

For example:

Wanda cried, “Hey! That’s mine!”
The boys snickered. Finally, one of them responded.
“Well, if it’s yours, what’s Manny here doin’ with it, huh?” The boy spat on the ground and poked the stuffed bear.
Wanda sniffled. “That’s mine,” she whispered through her tears.

• • Highlight tension between characters through dialogue.
  • Use vivid, descriptive language to powerfully convey actions and details.
    • Focus on the action by using precise verbs.

Select from these vivid verbs to help make your writing more precise. Because these verbs are more precise and descriptive, their meanings may have special connotations. Check the meanings of words before using them.

• • Use descriptive adverbs to add detail to the action.

This word list can help you find descriptive, exciting adverbs to add action to your narrative. Make sure you know what words mean before using them.

• Take action.

  • Make your climax exciting and action-packed.

  • Build up suspense and intrigue before the climax by developing the narrative’s main conflict.

  • Make sure you pace your climax and include enough detail so your readers can follow the action

  • Work each of your storylines into the climax.

    • All of the points of conflict in the story should be brought in and addressed.
    • Try to plan your plot and climax to bring together the many elements of your story.
    • Storylines which do not relate to the climax may not be relevant to your story. Consider how they add value to your narrative.
  • Make your climax brisk and fast-paced. At this point, your readers should have enough knowledge of the characters and plot to focus on the action.
  • Wrap up the story for your readers through falling action.
    • Give readers a sense of closure and understanding through the events following the climax.
  • Depict events and scenes following the climax that show how the climax affected characters’ lives.
    • Recap major events and their meaning to the characters.
    • Show how characters resume “normal life” after the conflict has been resolved.
  • Leave your readers with something to think about in your resolution.
    • Conclude your narrative with a definite ending.
    • Reiterate the point of your narrative—the lesson or message you want your readers to take from your story.
    • Use devices like flash-forward, interior reflection, or monologue to give your resolution a feeling of closure.
    • Include a ‘zinger’ such as a funny or poignant statement, if desired.

Time is on your side.

Some narratives follow an out-of-order chronology to build suspense by hiding information from readers until later. Most narratives, however, follow the real order of events, with some allowances for flashbacks and memories.

• • Follow chronological order (or an intentionally non-chronological one, if it adds meaning) in your narrative.
  • Recreate events in the order that they happened.
  • Include details in appropriate places; avoid going on tangents to add detail where it does not fit into the storyline.
  • Avoid ‘giving away’ the story from the beginning—make your reader want to read more to find out what happens!

Get it together!

• • Break your writing into paragraphs and sections based on action, dialogue, and events.
    • Use paragraphs to help pace and add structure and emphasis to your writing.
    • Make sure each paragraph has a central focus point—an action, a train of thought, or a description of a character or place.
    • Use strong, interesting sentences at the beginnings of paragraphs to catch the reader’s interest.
    • Make paragraphs short and easily understood. Longer paragraphs are okay, but the reader may have a harder time grasping the point and meaning of them.
    • If your writing is long enough, break it into sections or chapters that help divide the action of the text into different settings, time periods, or events.
  • Avoid putting stories within stories—focus on one main storyline and point of conflict.
  • Do not go off-topic on tangents, which are storylines that are related to your plot but are not directly involved in developing it, such as those which delve into the back history of a minor character.
  • Keep your storyline tight and focused on the main point of your story.