Writing a Narrative Essay

Tips for Writing a Narrative Essay

1.     Select details carefully. A good narrative is not burdened by endless details. Provide details that move the story forward, but leave out anything that might slow its progress. In a successful narrative, every detail is significant. Suppose you are telling about the time you locked yourself out of your house and had to convince a passing officer that you were not a burglar. Details about what you ate for breakfast, the décor of your house, or how you spent the hours or days leading up to the event do not matter. Focus instead on the incident itself.

2.     Incorporate dialogue. Use dialogue for dramatic moments when you want to show your reader exactly what was said and done or when you want readers to draw their own conclusions about the events that took place. For the strongest effect, use dialogue sparingly.

3.     Know your purpose. The purpose of the story is its reason for existence, the reason that you find it worth telling. If no change takes place, if no lesson is learned, if nothing happens, your reader will ask impatiently, "What is the point?" Before you tell a story, know your reasons for telling it.

4.     Don’t just tell, show! Examples are one of the best ways to get appoint across because they provide a concrete illustration of your point. If you say your father is sentimental, your reader gets the general idea. If you show us that his office walls are plastered in pictures you drew as a child, you give specific support to the general idea. Examples are specific illustrations, exact instances. They may range in length from a single word to a single sentence to an entire paragraph. 
5.  Center on conflict. Most successful narratives center around conflict. It may be inner conflict, conflict with another person, or conflict with an outside force - a tornado, an economic recession, or something else beyond the individuals' control. When the conflict ends, the story ends, too.