HOW TO WRITE A NARRATIVE EOI REUS 2010-2011

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HOW TO WRITE A NARRATIVE

HOW TO REPORT EVENTS We often write stories in order to inform the readers, sometimes to amuse them, sometimes to make an account of personal experiences o feelings. Any subject can be

suitable, so the events we write about may be public or rather personal. Events can be reported in many different ways: as a newspaper report, as a composition, as a letter or even as a short story or novel. This centres on the last option: narratives.

A narrative can include different writing styles such as descriptions, dialogues and speeches. Narratives are written either in the first person (I/we) or the third person

(he/she/it). They may be accounts of real events that happened to somebody or imaginary stories

(spy stories, humour stories, detective or crime stories, fairy tales, etc.) Before you start writing, you should decide on the plot line – that is, the events which make up

the story. You should also bear in mind the reader, as you should be using an adequate vocabulary and level of language.

Referring to narrating, whenever you tell a story, you usually answer the following WH-questions:

� Who was involved? � What happened?

� Where did it happen? � When did it happen?

� Why and how did it happen?

Narratives are usually organised in chronological order (by arranging the facts in the order they occurred), like telling a story. The tenses most commonly used are related

to past events and should have a past reference (Past Simple, Past Continuous, Past Perfect Simple or Continuous, Second Conditional – for hypothesis). You can also start a story in the past and recall a flashback, where past perfect will be necessary for the

text to be coherent.

Your story or narrative should contain the following parts:

1. A TITLE: A suitable, catchy title which appeals the reader and gives some hints to the topic of the story.

THE STRANGE STORY OF MR. ROBINSON

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2. AN OPENING/INTRODUCTION: The first paragraphs, which set the scene of the story and answer as many of the WH-questions as possible. Mr. Robinson had lived in the same little house in a suburb of Leeds for nearly 45 years. Now that the time was coming for him to leave, he knew it would not be easy.

3. A MAIN BODY: It describes the various stages that take place, one after the

other, picturing an idea of how events develop. One of the events should be

the climax event - that is, the event where interest, suspense and feelings reach their peak. Once they reached the main bedroom, the burglars soon noticed one picture big enough to hide the safe they had been looking for around the house. They took the picture down, opened the safe quite effortlessly and put all the money and jewellery into their bags as fast as they could.

4. A CONCLUSION: One or more paragraphs summing up the event, saying how it ended. It may also say how the event might affect the future or state your

personal opinion. A twist –such as a surprising ending – will make a long-lasting impression on the reader. After they had checked in and the porter had taken their luggage up to the marvellous suite overlooking the pool, they both breathed a sight of relief. Finally their holiday was about to begin.

THE LANGUAGE OF NARRATING REGISTER ASPECTS The language you use depends on your subject and your audience. If you are

reporting a serious event, the language, register and tone of your report will be serious and objective. However, if you are writing about something amusing or exciting, the language, register and tone ought to be informal and friendly. USEFUL TIME EXPRESSIONS AND LINKING WORDS

Sequencers are especially useful when organising a narrative, especially if actions happened in chronological order. They guide the reader through your story, showing how events happen and making your ideas easy to follow.

These are the most common connectors of sequence:

first second finally firstly secondly last first of all then lastly at first next last of all in the beginning (some time) later at last after + (that/noun phrase) in the end afterwards

later on

Daniel had a really busy afternoon. First, he had a guitar lesson with some friends from school. Then, he went to football practice because he was bound to play in the final match of the season. After that, he did his homework with one of his friends, Susanne. Finally, he watched his favourite TV programme, before having a shower and going to straight to bed. God, he was exhausted!

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There are other expressions that show chronological order too – prepositional phrases used to indicate time. Deborah's parents took a two-week holiday. For the first few days, she enjoyed the frozen food they had left for her. After eating frozen pizzas for a week, however, she was thoroughly sick of them. By the time her parents returned home, she was longing for a home-cooked meal.

You may also want to use some of the following linkers:

as soon as when while at that moment by the time soon eventually meanwhile

after a while suddenly as/since

REPORTING WHAT SOMEONE SAID When we are writing a narrative, we often need to report what someone said. We can

do so by using either direct or indirect speech.

� Direct Speech

- write the speaker's words in quotation marks (" ")

- start the quotation with a capital letter - use a comma (,) before the quotation - end the quotation:

a) with a stop, question mark or exclamation mark if it comes at the end of the sentence.

The reporter said, "A lot of damage has been done." The officer asked, "Has anyone been injured?" The man cried, "Come quickly!"

b) with a comma, question mark or exclamation mark if it comes at the beginning of the sentence.

"A lot of damage has been done", the reporter said. "Has anyone been injured?" the officer asked. "Come quickly!" the man cried.

� Indirect Speech

No special punctuation is necessary in Indirect Speech, just the necessary changes in verb tense.

The reporter said that a lot of damage had been done. The officer asked if/whether anyone had been injured.

ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS AND VERBS

To make a narrative more interesting to the reader, we should relate the characters' moods and feelings. We can do so by:

- using a variety of adjectives and adverbs such as wonderful, fascinating, horrible, depressed, etc. instead of basic/general ones such as good, nice, bad. - using a variety of verbs such as whisper, stare, scream, sigh, exclaim, etc.

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TECHNIQUES TO BEGIN AND/OR END YOUR STORY When writing a narrative we want to engage the reader. An interesting beginning is important in order to catch his/her attention and make them want to continue reading. An interesting ending will make them feel satisfied.

� We can start our story by: - using the senses to set the scene and describe the weather, atmosphere, surroundings or people's actions to create mystery and suspense.

A strange sensation came over me as I walked along the cold, dim corridor. Suddenly, a delicate glow appeared at the end and my heart began pounding quickly.

� We can start or end our story by:

- using direct speech. "Watch out! That branch is about to fall!" shouted Greg urgently. - asking rhetorical questions (a question that does not expect an answer). Have you ever had the feeling that you were being watched?

-referring to feelings/moods. Vivian was so nervous that, just as she was about to deliver her speech, she froze and

stared blankly at the audience.

-addressing the reader directly. I'm sure you would have done the same thing in my place.

� We can end our story by:

- describing people's reactions to or feelings about the events developed in the main body.

It had definitely been a horrifying experience and I was lucky to be alive in the end.