WRIT

ING A

NARRAT

IVE

EX

PL O

RI N

G P

ER

SO

NA

L NA

RR

AT

I ON

NARRATIVE

• A narrative is a personal story written to share a learning experience

• Narratives are true experiences that include you in a story

• Narratives come in many varieties, but the one we will write will share an experience that taught you a lesson

NARRATIVE

A N A R R A T I V E I S

• Typically a short story

• Written to entertain the reader while teaching them a lesson

• Written in chronological order

A N A R R A T I V E I S N O T

• An entire life story

• Written in third person point of view

• A story that focuses on one event and one event only

NARRATIV

E

Prew

ritin

g

PREWRITING A NARRATIVE

• Use your writing territories to help you find a topic

• Select an experience that you remember well

• Think about the lesson you learned (your story must contain a lesson)

• If you are still having trouble coming up with ideas, use a memory box, old photos, souvenirs, or journals.

Make a list of the 5 W’s (and H)• Who was in the

experience• What happened• When did it happen• Where did it happen• Why did events

happen• How did I change

because of this event

PREWRITING A NARRATIVE

PREWRITING A NARRATIVE

Make sure to place things in chronological order, but don’t be stuck with the idea that you must “start” at the beginning.

PREWRITING A NARRATIVE• Gathering Sensory Details

• Use the five senses

• Answer these

statements

I saw…

I heard…

I smelled

…

I touched

…

I tasted…

PREWRITING A NARRATIVE• Using dialogue is important.

• It can do several things: Dialogue is used to show a speaker’s personality

Dialogue is used to keep the action moving in the story

Dialogue is used to add information the reader would otherwise miss

NARRATIV

ES

Writ

ing th

e le

ad a

nd gra

bbing y

our r

eader

’s a

tten

tion

DIFFERENT WAYS TO START