Narrative writing is a style that allows the writer to tell a story. It can include actual events told in chronological order or it may include imagined events told in a timeline that the author creates. Narrative writing can sustain the reader’s attention and help them visualize a realistic experience from the words.
What does narrative writing include?
A written narrative includes several key elements, which are:
Plot: The plot is the thread of events that occurs in the narrative.
Characters: Characters are the people in the plot who appear and develop as the story progresses. The elements of the plot also impact the characters.
Setting: The location, including the place and time in which the story took place, is the setting in a narrative.
Conflict: Conflict is the problem in the story. It often includes a moment of tension or a challenge that the characters try to overcome.
Theme: The overarching purpose or driving force behind the story, including its moral, intent and takeaways, is the theme.
Tone: Tone is a styling choice that determines how the reader experiences the situation that the plot describes.
Point of view: The point of view allows the narrator in the story to describe what’s happening in the plot. The narrator can be a character, and the point of view can shift between multiple characters, or the author may use an omniscient narrator who explains the thoughts and feelings of the character while being unknown to the reader.
Timeline: The timeline dictates the sequence of events in the plot. A writer can choose to alter the timeline of certain events or describe the events out of the sequence in which they happened.
Types of narrative writing
Here’s a list of pieces that may use the narrative writing style:
Novel
A novel is a long work of narrative fiction published in book form. It often includes a cast of characters who experience a sequence of events in the story and a narrator who directs the reader to what’s happening in the plot. For example, a romance novel may shift points of view to the two main characters who are falling in love with one another. The plot may start with when the characters first meet and end when they decide to be together.
Screenplay
A screenplay is a narrative work that actors use in a film or play. It includes all the key elements of the story presented in lines that the characters memorise and recite. A writer often develops a screenplay before the story receives an adaptation that the audience can watch on screen.
Short story
A short story is a brief narrative work that includes the main elements of a story but in a less elaborate format than a novel. For instance, a short story may include a narrator who introduces characters and describes the setting. Before the end of the story, the characters overcome the conflict, and the reader realizes the meaning of the theme.
Personal extended response
A personal extended response is a written work used to describe an experience or lesson gathered during the life of the author. It may include intimate or personal thoughts, descriptions of specific events or what the writer learned from a specific life experience. A prospective college student, for example, may write a personal essay to explain their academic aspirations to a scholarship committee.
Fairy tale
Fairy tales are stories in the folklore genre that tell about magical or wondrous situations and characters. They are often told to children, although some of the early fairy tales included dark themes and scary elements. Common characters in fairy tales include princesses, wizards and talking animals, for example.
Autobiography
An autobiography is the story of a person's life, told in the first person. It shares some similarities with a personal essay, although it’s usually longer than an essay. Although the work is nonfiction, it can take on the narrative form as it tells the story of the writer's life.
News stories
News stories describe actual events happening in a particular region, community or area and are meant to convey information. A news story may use the narrative writing style because it tells a story of a situation or event. The style helps the audience understand what has recently transpired.
Imaginative writing scaffolds help students to structure, visualise and organise the elements of a story, such as characters, plot, setting, and events. They:
support educators to assess students' comprehension and analysis of imaginative texts
provide students with a visual framework for understanding and organising the key elements of a story
foster stronger communication and storytelling skills when writing or discussing imaginative texts.
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