Narrative writing, at its most basic function, tells a story. This form of writing makes the reader day dream or find themselves out of their own realm. These pieces often share a personal experience with readers. They are often crafted to inspire readers with the essence of the story. When you are choosing how to tell your story you will need to weave truth into your story. The following collection of worksheets will give your students practice with different forms of this writing, including biographies, fictional, personal, and more. Each individual set includes definitions, examples, tip sheets, and writing prompts, so instructors must be sure to print them all. Tell your readers a story that moves them. The best stories always are that everyone young and old can relate to. Let these worksheets help you tell your story.
Printable Narrative Writing Worksheets
Scroll down to view and print the worksheets.
Brief Overview of This Form of Writing
Although telling a story may sound like a simple goal, several intricacies are involved in good storytelling such as vivid, sensory details; clear imagery; setting specific scenes; and effective use of dialogue.
Biographical
In this type of narrative, the main goal is to give an overall impression of a person through details of his or her life. Research is crucial, and, if possible, interviewing the person will be extremely helpful.
Example of Biographical Writing
The following example of a biography is an excerpt from a piece on Henry VIII. You can use this to better understand this genres.
Tips and Checklist for Biographical Writing
Think about the impression you want to make of the person. Choose your details accordingly; however, it is important to also address information that does not fit into your view. Make sure you are fair in your portrayal, and, if appropriate, include different perspectives of your topic.
Prompt #1 for Biographical Writing
Choose someone in your family to interview about your family tree. After the interview (or possibly during, if someone catches your interest), choose a person mentioned to research as the subject of your biography.
Someone Significant
Think about someone who has made an impact on you, someone significant in your life, and write a biographical narrative of him or her.
Fictional Writing
Fictional narratives are just that, made up stories. They can be found in many forms, including songs, poems, plays, short stories, and novels. Fictional narratives are similar to biographical narratives except in this case, the writer creates the characters and their backgrounds, chooses the setting, invents a conflict (at least one), and constructs a resolution.
Tips and Checklist for Fictional Narrative
Develop an outline of the plot of the narrative. This can give you an idea of how you want to develop the story and keep your details focused on a main idea. Make sure to include the typical elements of a plot.
Prompt #1 for Fictional Narrative
Think about a significant event in your life, one in which other people were involved. Consider how at least one of the other people experienced the event differently than you did.
The Picture Makes Me Think
Ask to look at a friend or family member's photo album. Choosing a picture that sparks your interest, create a story based on the details of the photo. This can also be done with artwork.
Childhood Fairytales
Think of a favorite childhood fairytale, and write the story from another character's point of view.
Personal Narrative
A personal narrative tells a story from the author's life. Its main goal is to recreate a personal experience for the reader and to reveal insights gained about it and/or the people involved. As in other narrative writing, descriptive details are important in relaying the story and in creating specific scenes in a clear organizational pattern.
Example of Personal Narrative
The following example of a personal narrative is from Rick Bragg's All Over but the Shoutin'
Tips and Checklist for Personal Narrative
Choose an event that has impacted you in some way. Remember, if it is significant to you, then it is worth sharing. Keep your project length in mind during this step.
Achievements and Obstacles
Describe and explain an achievement and the obstacles you had to overcome to make it.
When I Was Disappointed
A time when you were particularly proud-or particularly disappointed explain it in detail.
What is Narrative Writing?
These phrases above mean to write or tell your own story. A narrative is a type of story. However, it is written and told from the writer's point of view or the protagonist's. The essay is also combined with the basics of descriptive writing to give more depth to the work.
The narrative has three forms: first person, second person, and third person.
How To Differentiate Between the Three:
First-person narratives will always use I, me, and we. At the same time, the second-person narrative will use you, your, etc. On the other hand, a third-person narrative will use he, she, and they.
The Basics of Narrative Writing
Characters: List down the characters that will appear. The list should be in order according to the major and minor roles.
Setting: Where and in what time of life your story takes place. The first two paragraphs usually identify the setting.
Plot: This is a sequence of events that occurs in the story. Students must write down the plots in short pointers and form a paragraph. Even fiction writers who use narrative techniques build up a plot.
Themes: Think of the themes you would use, such as family-oriented, identity-crisis, love, friendship, self-actualization, etc.
Conflict: Write down the conflict that you or the protagonists faced. It can be a character against society, nature, another character, or a battle against self.
Resolution: The solution to the conflict is the resolution.
Examples of Narratives from Literature
The Catcher In The Rye
Where I want to start telling is the day I left Pencey Prep. Pencey Prep is a school that's in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. You probably heard of it. You've probably seen the ads, anyway. They advertise in about a thousand magazines, always showing some hotshot guy on a horse jumping over a fence.
This is the first-person narrative example written by J.D. Salinger.
Us
It happened because I took my class on an outing to the National Gallery… It's essential for kids to be exposed to art and culture, if only so that they'll see that media conmen like Jake Hitchins aren't the only artists our civilization has ever produced. Not, by the way, that I'm bitter about Jake's success. If I could persuade people to spend thousands of pounds on my melted garden furniture, I'm sure I would.
Another example of first-person narrative by Richard Mason.
The Night Circus
What kind of circus is only open at night?" people ask. No one has a proper answer, yet as dusk approaches, there is a substantial crowd of spectators gathering outside the gates.
You are amongst them, of course. Your curiosity got the better of you, as curiosity is wont to do. You stand in the fading light, the scarf around your neck pulled up against the chilly evening breeze, waiting to see for yourself exactly what kind of circus only opens once the sun sets.
This is the second-person narrative example by Erin Morgenstern.
Pride and Prejudice
Elizabeth allowed that he had given a very rational account of it, and they continued talking together with mutual satisfaction till supper put an end to cards and gave the rest of the ladies their share of Mr. Wickham's level of attention. There could be no conversation in the noise of Mrs. Phillips's supper party, but his manners recommended him to everybody. Whatever he said was said well, and whatever he did, done gracefully.
This is the third-person narrative example by Jane Austen.
Where to Start
You should start by outlining the story you will write. Start by just writing a description. In one line or less, what is your story about? Then move on to the concept of plot and story trajectory. Where does it start, climax, and descend? Who are the key characters and supporting characters? After you have an outline, choose which point view you will tell your story from. Off of your outline build a series of events in order. You have just created a simple cheat sheet to get your writing going, that when we start to compose the piece. All details included in a narrative piece must support the overall theme.