25 Telling Your Story in Writing

Why do we tell stories?

Everyone has stories to tell. Your stories are unique because they are from your life and your experience. No one else has had exactly the same experience as you, and that makes your story interesting! Your stories are also part of your identity, and make you who you are. Your stories can teach others and show them a new point of view. Your stories can help you connect with others who might have had similar experiences. Your stories might even motivate and inspire others to overcome their own challenges or try something new. And finally, telling your story can be a way to explore your own life and your own feelings, and maybe help you see yourself in a new way. You should feel comfortable and confident about sharing the stories of your experiences with others.

What is narrative writing?

When we write to tell a story, this style of writing is called “narrative” writing. The story told in a narrative can be real or imaginary, but it usually includes one or more characters (people). Through the story, we learn what happens to the characters.

Narrative writing is usually written in chronological order, which means it goes in order through time. This type of writing usually has a beginning, middle, and end – this is called the “plot.” The plot is the action, or the events that happen in the story. In the beginning, we usually learn the theme of the story, and find out about the characters and location. In the middle, we learn about a conflict that needs to be solved. A narrative story always has a “climax” near the end, which is the most exciting part of the story or the conflict. After the climax, the conflict is usually resolved and we wrap up the story in the conclusion.

Narratives also include a lot of description, using the five senses. Often, narrative writing includes dialog (people talking), so it might use a lot of “quotation marks”.

There are different types of narrative writing, including most fiction novels and short stories, biographies, fairy tales and cultural stories, personal narratives, and more. In this chapter, we will focus on personal narratives. These are true stories, based on events or experiences in a person’s life, and written in first-person (using “I” and “we”) by the person who experienced them.

Personal narrative writing may be important if you plan to go to college in the future. You may be required to write narratives as part of your application for college or for a scholarship, and you may be asked to write narratives in your college classes too. Learning to write a personal narrative will also help you when you need to write a cover letter or have an interview for a job. You will learn how to tell your story confidently and make a good impression on your future employer.

How do you write a personal narrative?

To write a strong personal narrative, you should:

• Choose a topic for your narrative. You could focus on a time that you learned something, a time that you overcame an obstacle, or an important even in your life.
• Write about your own personal experience and base the story on facts of your life. It should be a mostly true story.
• Use “I”, “me” and “we” a lot in your narrative. Write the story from your point of view.
• Have a clear beginning, middle, and end to the story
• You can use informal language, similar to the way we speak. However, make sure to use correct grammar and spelling so that it is easy for your reader to read and understand.
• Have a clear theme or topic. Everything in the story should be related to this theme. For example, if you choose to write about your wedding day as a significant event in your life, focus only on that day and how it changed your life. Don’t focus too much on how you met your spouse or other things that happened before your wedding day.
• Grab the reader’s attention in the first sentence of the introduction paragraph. Your could start your first sentence with some action, a dialog between the characters, or a description of the location of your story.
• Have at least two characters in the story.
• Mention the setting or location. Where and when does the story happen?
• Describe the plot (What happened, the action) in a logical order. Most narratives use chronological (time) order.
• Have a climax – Usually this is a conflict or problem. It’s the most interesting or exciting part of the story
• Near the end of the story, explain the resolution. How was the problem or conflict solved?
• In the conclusion paragraph, reflect what you learned, summarize the story, and repeat your theme again
• Include lots of details to describe sights and sounds, smells, feelings, etc.
• Try including some some dialog in your story. Be sure to put “quotation marks” around the words that someone says. For example, “Will you marry me?” asked Junhee. “Of course!” I shouted, as I started to cry. 
• A good target is to have 4 to 7 paragraphs in your story: An introduction, 2 to 5 Body paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph.

Brainstorm your personal narrative

Here are some questions to help you plan and organize your narrative. Write some notes in each box to help you get ideas. It’s OK to write in your own language for this part.