Best Practices Of Narrative Writing

Narrative Writing: Best Practices and Resources

Narrative writing relates an event or a procedure in chronological or sequential order. When writing a narrative, it is often helpful to utilize transition words that signal time or sequence. Narratives are primarily written from either the first-person or third-person point of view. When students write narratives, they tend to produce sentences of lesser syntactical complexity than when they produce explanatory or argumentative writing, so it may be beneficial to combine narrative writing exercises with Hochman sentence strategies. Students might also benefit from using the paragraph and multiparagraph outlines from Hochman to structure their writing. Components of Narrative Writing

The

Events should unfold naturally and logically. They should utilize transition words that convey sequence and shifts of setting. Techniques used might include: dialogue, pacing, and description. Students should be precise in their word choice, phrases, and sensory language. Students should provide a conclusion that proceeds from the narration.

Grade seven: Students should establish a point of view in their narratives. Their conclusion should reflect on the narrated experiences or events.

Grade eight: Students should use language that demonstrates the relationships among experiences and events. Students can also utilize reflection as a narrative technique.

Grades nine and ten: Students might choose to engage the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation. They might also establish multiple points of view.

Events and experiences should be relayed in a smooth progression. Writing should convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, etc. Events should build on one another to create a coherent whole. Students might also utilize multiple plot lines in their

Integrate sentence-level (e.g., expanded sentences, appositives, conjunctions) and paragraphlevel supports (e.g., single paragraph outline) into activities to ensure that students are writing sentences of an appropriate complexity.

6. Construct examples and anticipated responses to use as guidelines. Narrative Retelling

For “striving” writers, it might be appropriate to have students do a narrative retelling of things:

¥ Students are provided with a text, either written or visual

¥ Students create a narrative based on the provided content of text o For example, if students are given a painting, they might write a story about the painting or even a narrative where the painting plays a role in a character’s life Narratives can take one of many different forms. For example:

¥ Short story

¥ Letter

¥ Email Narratives can be highly structured for “striving” writers, depending on the content provided

¥ Structured narrative writing assignments tend to produce results with more fluent language

¥ This technique is effective because it provides content for students so that they do not have to struggle to come up with an experience or event to relate in their