Writing narrative texts

1) Introduction

Hello! Welcome back to another English lesson. My name is Eugenia, and today we
will be learning about writing narrative texts.

“A narrative text, or narrative writing is a type of composition that tells a story, the
elements of which may be fiction or nonfiction”.

2) The basics from narrative writing

Let 's start. First, let's review the basics from narrative writing. As you may
remember, narrative writing has several elements. These are plot, which is the
story line; characters; the setting, where it takes place; conflict, the central problem;
theme, the underlying message; and style, created by the author’s word choice.

“Remember point of view? Point of view is the angle of considering things, which
shows us the opinion, or feelings of the individuals involved in a situation. In a
narrative, point of view is the mode of narration that an author employs to let the
readers “hear” and “see” what takes place in a story”.

“Choosing who will tell your story is an important decision. This is where the voice
of your story originates. In literature, point of view is very closely linked with the
concept of a narrator. The narrator of a story can be a participant in the story,
meaning this character is a part of the plot, or the narrator might be a
nonparticipant, someone from outside the story acting as an observer. Authors
have several forms of point of view to choose from.”
The point of view can be in first person, in second person, and in third person.

3) Tension, mood, and/or tone

We have already reviewed the basics from narrative writing. Now, we will take a
deeper look, so we can learn how to write narratives using an appropriate pace to
create tension, mood, and/or tone.

Let’s review the first step towards narrative writing is story mapping.
As you may remember, “Story mapping is a visual way to see the major elements
of the story. It’s a useful tool that can help you when you are writing your own story
to ensure you have included all the major elements”.

The second thing to consider is exposition. “Exposition is a literary device used to

introduce background information about events, settings, or characters. The
protagonist is the main character. The antagonist is the adversary. Character traits
are the aspects of a character’s behavior and attitudes that make up that
character’s personality. As we reviewed earlier, the conflict is the central problem
the characters face; conflict creates interest in the story.”

Then the third, which we already reviewed is point of view.

And last but not least, we have the rising and falling action.

“Rising action in a plot is a series of relevant events that create suspense, interest
and tension in a narrative. These events, and the characters involved, create turns
and twists leading to a climax. The climax is the point of highest tension in a story.
The number of events you include in your narrative are entirely up to you. But if you
are writing a short story, it will probably be hard to include more than a few events.
The falling action is the bridge between the climax and the end of the story. Falling
action occurs right after the climax, when the main problem of the story resolves. It
also wraps up the narrative, resolves its loose ends and leads towards the closure.”

These are some of the things that may influence the mood or tone in your text.

4) Pacing

Let’s review the concepts, tension, mood, and tone is represented by the feelings
evoked in the reader. It is how the reader interprets the atmosphere as presented
by the author.

Tone is the attitude of the writer as interpreted by the reader.

Mood is the feelings evoked in the reader.

“The term “tension” refers to the strain or tense feeling that the story gives the
reader. Authors create tension to raise the emotional level of a story and keep the
reader engaged.”

Have you heard the term pacing? “Pacing also affects the tension within a story.
Authors may choose a slower pace to gradually build tension, or the author may
use a rapid pace to keep the reader on edge. When the pacing is slow, plot events
tend to unfold gradually. As the pace speeds up, a sense of urgency can be felt, like
a car case from a movie scene. In books and short stories, authors use words and
phrases that express a sense of urgency to create a fast pace. Examples of this
include words like “suddenly” or “extremely.””
Another common way of building tension when writing a narrative is manipulating
time.

Some examples include flashbacks, flashforwards, or lapses in time. A flashback

is when the author takes the reader back to the past. Flashbacks help build
mystery, and modify. Flash-forwards are a glimpse into the future, the author does
this providing more information, which creates mystery.

“For example, seeing a flash-forward that reveals something bad will happen to a
character and then reading the events that led up to it can create a lot of tension
because the reader knows what will happen but can do nothing to change the end
result”.

When the author skips time, through a lapse of time, is another way of
manipulating time, creating tension since the reader has to put the pieces of the
puzzle together and try to determine what happened.

This time YOU are the author, now you know using flashbacks or flash-forwards,
even lapse of time, will help you create tension when writing a narrative.

5) Details

Another thing to consider when writing a narrative, to create mood, tone, tension,
are details.

“Details make the difference in your narrative being an interesting read or just an
outline. To help engage readers in your story, you need to provide opportunities for
them to see, hear and feel what the characters do. You can do this by using
sensory details and figurative language. Figurative language includes things like
simile, metaphor, personification, onomatopoeia, irony, symbolism, and hyperbole.
If you were writing a narrative that included a concert, you might describe the loud
music and flashing lights, or how the characters danced, as well as some of the
conversations they were having or hearing. Look at each of the images followed by
the details that could be used to give the reader a sense of that image, and then
read the narrative text example”.

Now that we have more tools to create pace in narrative writing, let’s do some
practice.

“Read the scenario below. Then, create just the opening paragraph of a story that
connects to this scenario. You’ll want to select and establish a point of view,
introduce the problem or conflict, and use some sensory details to vividly describe
the setting and character(s).

The scenario: You have just been hired at a burger place for the summer. A group
of older kids from school found out where you work and started coming in several
times a week making your job absolutely miserable. Quitting is just not an option.

Pause to complete this practice exercise.

Feedback: There are countless options for what you could have created for your
opening paragraph. Here is a sample response you might want to compare yours
to.

“Sample Response: The stench of burnt French fries wafted upward from the deep
fat fryer and awakened me out of my pleasant daydream of off-roading in the
mountains. Great, another batch of burnt fries that no one can eat. My boss is
going to be furious with me. Again. I heave the silver basket of blackened fries into
the trash, wipe the sweat from my brow, roll up my soiled sleeves, and prepare to
cook another batch when I am stopped cold. Glancing through the grimy window of
the swinging kitchen door, I see them. Todd, Frank, and Henry. They’re back. These
seniors have been verbally harassing me all summer, making fun of my uniform,
criticizing my burger-flipping skills, and mocking my minimum wage paycheck. At
least I have a job, and I’m saving everything I make to buy my first car, a cherry red
Jeep Wrangler. They are too lazy to do anything but bully others, and the beat up
green station wagon they drive around in should be in a junk heap. I’ll show them!
This will be the last day I let them harass me. I have the perfect plan.”

“In your response, did you select a point of view and make it clear for the reader to
identify? Did you reveal the conflict? Did you use sensory details to vividly describe
the characters and setting to help your reader picture what is happening in the
story? If so, then great job!”

6) Closing

Thank you for listening! Today we learned tools to write a narrative by using an
appropriate pace to create tension, mood, and/or tone. A good way of practicing
narrative writing is writing a daily journal narrating your day!

Remember, like Satya Nani says: “A little progress every day, adds up to big
results”.
Until next time!

References:
https://www.cpalms.org/PreviewResourceStudentTutorial/Preview/119087
https://www.cpalms.org/