What is narrative writing?
In short, narrative writing tells a story. It’s a piece of writing of a main character (a narrator or the author himself/herself) in a particular setting, who encounters an event – be it a problem, or one that engages the character in an interesting, significant or entertaining experience.
The event that happens to the character is called the plot. That plot follows a beginning, a middle and an end. The middle of the story is usually the biggest part and we call that the main event. This section is what the story is all about. Authors write narrative stories to entertain or teach readers a lesson. This is called author’s purpose.
The skills involved in narrative writing
There are specific skills involved in narrative writing that students need to pay attention to. They are:
1. An entertaining beginning: the aim of a narrative story is to grab the reader’s attention from the very beginning – to draw them into the story.
2. Elaborate the detail: students need to learn how to elaborate on story elements, such as the characters and the setting, and understand why it’s important to elaborate.
3. Create suspense: suspense, or story tension, is important to keep the reader reading the story. Students need to learn the techniques for building suspense into their story plot.
4. A full main event: the middle of the story is the main event, the part of the narrative writing that details what the story is really about. This section needs to be told through action, dialogue, descriptions, thoughts and feelings.
5. Story endings: the end of the story needs to bring a conclusion to the main event, where the character reflects on feelings, hopes and decisions they are making from the main event.
Why is it important that my child learns narrative writing?
There are lots of reasons why it’s important for kids to learn narrative writing. Among them are:
- To stimulate their imagination and to foster their artistic expression. Narrative writing allows students to express their stories creatively.
- To help students clarify their thinking, and teach them to express that in writing in an organized way.
- To help them search for identity. Narrative writing helps them explore different characters and settings.
