See me explain how to write a narrative. Personal Narrative Planner
Watch a presentation on how to write a narrative. Read example narratives - 1, 2
Narrative is another word for story.
You are the narrator (person telling the story).
A narrative has
characters (people in the story)
setting (time and place)
plot (story events that happen in a certain order)
a catchy introduction
a conclusion (make it memorable, don't leave the reader wondering what happened)
details (show what happened, don't just tell, describe the setting)
voice (your personality and feelings show)
Your writing prompts will often ask you to write about a time you did something.
Your STAAR prompt will include a picture.
Write about "a time" means to write a story about what you did.
Examples:
1. Write about a time you found something.
2. Write about a time you were surprised.
3. Write about a time you learned a lesson.
Use the steps of the writing process.
1. Brainstorm
think of ideas for your story
choose one that's easy to write about
2. Prewrite
decide what will go in each paragraph.
list words that describe the setting (time AND place)
list words that SHOW how you feel (what does your face look like? how are you moving? how do you speak?)
3. Rough Draft
write your story in paragraph form
introduction - start with dialogue, action, or onomatopoeia, and describe the setting
make sure to show how you feel
make sure you're telling a story, things are happening
conclusion - give it and ending and tell the lesson you learned, give advice, or tell what you'd do differently next time
4. Revise/edit
find mistakes to fix or changes that will make it better. Think CUPS.
Usage - 50 cent words, subjects-verbs
Punctuation - commas, apostrophes
5. Final Draft
a nice, polished, mistake free copy of the story in nice handwriting
6. Rubric
review the checklist so you know your story has everything it needs