Narrative Writing

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Narrative Writing
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(No Transcript)
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Narrative writing seeks to tell a story either
from first person or third person point of veiw.
This writing makes use of setting, plot,
character and theme. It also is commonly
structured in chronological order, but other
narrative devices such as flashback may be used
as well. It also normally incorporates a
reflective component describing how the event
affected those involved.
Definition
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Types of Narrative Writing

• Adventure stories
• Anecdotes
• Autobiographies
• Biographies
• Cartoons
• Cliffhangers
• Conversations
• Commercials
• Creative stories
• Fables
• Fairy Tales
• Family Histories

• Fantasies
• Folktales
• Friendly letters
• Ghost stories
• Historical Novels
• Jokes
• Legends
• Memoirs
• Movie Scripts
• Mysteries
• Myths

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Types of Narratives Cont.

• Novels
• Parables
• Parodies
• Picture Books
• Plays
• Puppet shows
• Science Fiction
• Serials and Sequels
• Short Stories
• Slide Shows
• Surprise Endings

• Tall Tales
• Television Scripts
• Time Lines

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Chronological Order

• Order of events
• Beginning, Middle, Ending
• Transition Words
• At last
• Suddenly
• Other devices
• Frame Effect
• Flashback
• Dream Sequence

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Parts of a Narrative

• Setting
• Character
• Plot
• Point of View
• Theme
• Special Techniques
• Irony
• Personification
• Imagery
• Symbolism

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Effective Introductions

• Descriptive scene
• Action-Shock and awe
• Dialogue-Fly on the wall
• Starting at the end
• Letter
• Emotional or memorable scene
• Humor
• Puzzle or riddle
• Introducing a character
• Describing an important symbol

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Effective Endings

• Circular Effect
• Leave the reader hanging
• Ambiguous ending
• The big reveal
• Celebration or triumph
• Annihilation
• Ironic Twist

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Narrative Prewriting Techniques

• Reading
• Freewriting
• Brainstorming
• Clustering
• Mapping
• Outlining
• Journals
• Timelines
• 5 Ws-Who, What, Where, When, Why
• Observation
• Interviews

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Pay Attention to Models of Good Writing Technique

• It is an effective practice to look at good
  writing models in order to improve your own
  writing.
• Good writing does not happen over night!
• Many sessions of writing, revising, and editing
  are required.
• Writing is recursive in nature.
• Hemingway revised one of his novels over thirty
  times before getting it published!

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Tomato on the Brain One day I was hanging upside
down from my knees on my monkey bars. I glanced
around the yard. Hanging there, the world was
completely rearranged the trees looked like
feather dusters, the basket of vegetables
underneath me seemed to replace the clouds, and
my dog seemed to be flying. My mother was
laboriously caring for her precious yet
weed-infested garden. She worked in such jerking,
hummingbird-like movements that watching her from
an upside-down position was a special and amusing
treat. Wiping sweat off her brow, she peered at
me over her shoulder and shook her head. You
know, if you hang upside down like that, all the
blood rushing to your brain will make your head
blow up. I smiled. A challenge. This was what I
had been waiting for. Sheer excitement of the
possibility of my head exploding motivated me to
hang there longer.
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After five minutes, my temples, began to throb.
My heart felt like a big lump of pain and seemed
to weigh at least 200 pounds. My entire body was
numb. I could feel all the blood rushing to my
brain like a flash flood. My mothers wise
warnings jabbed and replayed over and over in my
mind. I was suddenly gripped with the realization
that my head was indeed going to blow up. I
tried to get down, but paralysis seized me. In
panic, I closed my eyes and envisioned fragments
of my head strewn around the yard. I saw myself
transformed into fertilizer for my mothers
garden, my severed eyes and nose in my fathers
tomato patch, dripping off the lilac patch,
flowing down the fence. Suddenly, darkness
washed over me and I was falling, sinking. .
.until my head struck something offering little
resistance. The impact jolted me out of my
trance.
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As my eyes tried to focus, I reached my hand to
my head, checking to see how much of it was left.
What my hand discovered was soft, mushy,
brain-like. Struck with terror, I brought my
trembling hand to my focusing eyes. It was
oozing, it was red, it was. . . A tomato.