Introduction

A Look At Personal Narratives

Personal narratives have been at the center of many writing forms, whether it is an essay, short story, or even a novel. They describe a specific incident or event in the life of a writer and how it changed the courses of thought and action.

The incident does not have to be exotic or thrilling necessarily to make the narrative interesting. Anything from introspection after an accident to describing the details of that accident can become a narrative.

Personal narratives are widely used to connect with people at an emotional level. Even though the experiences are personal, they should be penned down with a solid theme and purpose to ensure that readers get to understand and relate to them.   

Structures to Follow

Every life is lived in different circumstances so the events and experiences are novel for everyone else. Still, academics have identified recurring themes and elements that are found in great narrative essays.

Introduction/ Opening: In literature, writers spend a lot of time composing opening lines and paragraphs to grab readers’ attention. In narrative essays, students must open with a hook to get readers invested in the story.

Plot: The sequence of events that happen in a story is called a plot. It needs to be logical and believable for the readers, not to mention it should be clear that readers can connect the dots with the bare minimum of information.

Characters: The people in a story, including the writer, makes up for the characters. They can be supporting and sporadic or play a dominant role in how the story would turn out.

Setting: Setting deals with the when, where, how, why, and what of the story. Again, it should be vivid and logical to make sense of the events.

Climax: This can be the highest point of conflict, change, or tension in the narrative. Make sure the rest of the story builds up to it before moving on to the resolution.

Conclusion: Conclusions cover the lessons and insights that can be drawn from the narratives. They should be enticing and make sense of the things that happened in the story.

A Traditional Personal Narrative Template

A traditional template for a narrative essay has three distinct sections:

• Introduction

The introduction or opening of the personal narrative places the hook and set the scene. It also makes it clear what the essay will be about with a strong and bold thesis statement.

• Body

The body does the heavy lifting as it is the bones and meat of the essay. It describes the events with supporting evidence and characters to make sure the scenes become clear and easy to follow. It also deals with the transition to and from the “big event”.

• Conclusion

In simple words, the conclusion offers moral lessons and other parallels that can be drawn for the narrative that readers can understand and relate to.

Parameters For Composing Essays

Turning Personal Narrative Into A Story

There is speculation among students about turning a personal narrative into a story. The truth is a personal narrative essay is a story based on a personal experience or incident. It is just like any other story with a distinct beginning, body with characters and settings, and a conclusion.

Also, the story should be personal but relatable with vivid details and a plot that is easy to follow by the readers. Depending on the actual topic, you can introduce the elements of humor, suspense, thrill, and others to your story.

Giving Clear Purpose To Your Writing

On the surface, the purpose of writing a narrative essay or a story can be simple, to tell a story. But if you dig a little deeper, there is much more to it. Writing a narrative means telling a story with meaning and depth to the readers. They can deduce lessons and insights from the story and even apply that to incidents and experiences they might have had in their lives.

Relating Narrative To The Right Person

There are more than the narrator in these essays. Both secondary characters and plot points play a great tool to complete the story. Still, they should not dominate the protagonist, which is the writer. 

Since it is a story based on personal experience, the underlying after-shocks should affect the person at all levels.

Playing With Essay Topics & Ideas

Nailing The Theme

By theme, we mean the central meaning of the whole narrative. The theme goes through what the characters say and what they go through. It is also represented by the plot and setting of the story and the ideas and insight that can be drawn from it.

The most common themes in personal narratives are tragedy, loss, redemption, and many more. In all cases, even when the writer does not have a clear theme in mind and is just describing a moving event, a solid theme can be built around it and readers can draw parallels.

Picking The Right Trigger of Events

A story could become bland if it does not have enough structure and tension. That’s why writers have to build up the tension and state the chain of events right before it triggers the change.

For instance, if the narrative is about a loved one’s death, it should describe why that person was important to the writer and how the death affected later life. Otherwise, it would all be moot and seemed like an ordinary day in somebody’s life.

Best Examples Of Personal Narratives

It is hard to come up with the best examples for personal narratives because they are personal and some things resonate more with one kind of person than the other. Still, the topics of loss, rage, redemption, and tragedy are considered to be the themes to explore in your narrative.

You can find many essays written by brilliant authors that take the narrative element to new heights with their scene-setting and storytelling.