To start this, we might have to write a compare and contrast essay highlighting why simply a narrative and a narrative essay are different. But we are not going to attempt something of that magnitude as it will be fairly difficult and unreasonable to ask for your undivided attention throughout what might turn out to be a ten-page essay. But before we delve deeper into what requirements one should fulfill before writing a narrative essay. Let us explain what a narrative essay is and why is it different from a narrative.
A narrative, simply, is a story. That is all. Any story you come across, which has a simple three-act flow; a beginning, a middle, and an end, is a narrative in its own right. A movie can be a narrative. A movie has a screenplay and a screenplay follows a simple yet similar structure, A play can be a narrative too because it follows a similar flow. One of the most confusing no man’s land between a narrative and a narrative essay is a short story. A short story and a narrative essay can be very confusing when it comes to distinguishing them from each other,
But there is one clear difference between the two; a short story does not follow a format, a narrative essay does.
With this, we come to the focus of our article, a narrative essay. A narrative essay is very unlike other forms of academic or scholastic writing. A narrative essay, also tells a story that in most cases, will have something to do with you. It will either be one of your personal experiences or they will give you some aspect of life that is common for everyone and will ask you to write a narrative essay on it. Long story short, this essay will have much more of an opinionated and personal touch than the rest.
You may think, ‘why does someone want to hear my story?
Well, you should know, it is not your story that they are after, it is your creativity. These essays depend on one format- which is to follow a single motif or central point and weave a personalized story around it.. These essays are to check your creativity and ability to convey a point as engagingly and deftly as possible.
Here are some skills you need to know for achieving that:
How to brainstorm
Since you are dealing with the creative side of your school life, you need to have ideas. Nowadays, the attention span of people is very minimal. You need to grab their attention and not let it go from the beginning. Remember, in a story, if your reader is not hooked from the beginning, they are in for a boring or at best a disjointed time and you are in for some bad reviews on your essays. Hence, you should know how to brainstorm different and exciting ideas that are able to suck your readers inside the story from the very beginning.
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How to create a flow:
A narrative shines in the flow, even if it is just an essay. A flow is not for you, it is for the reader to read it. The flow should not only be smooth and easy, but also engaging and exciting. This will accomplish two things- it will keep the reader in the loop of the story, giving them the exact idea of what is happening, and will keep them hooked to it as well.
If your flow is clunky, disjointed, and not well sorted, there is a danger of losing the audience midway.
How to create a structure:
This point is very well adjacent to the point before this. The structure of your essay is akin to the skeleton of your body. And you very well know what a body is without a skeleton- a clutter of different constituents that cannot stand on its own. No matter how great your narrative idea is or how enriching your story is, it is nothing but an unsorted mess without a proper structure. So you should really practice structuring beforehand.
For example, if your story jumps around different timelines, try thinking about what order of timelines would evoke the best impact you want to and what order will drive the theme well home.
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How to play with emotion:
There is something very common with both narratives and narrative essay. In fact, it is something that is expected of you if you write an essay like this. It is- a play of emotions,
Think about it, what are the best kinds of stories you have read? You guessed it right…it is the ones that we’re able to invoke a special sense of emotions out of you.
If you are not able to invoke any sort of emotions through your essay, then there is a complete lack of grace and that is not a good sign.
Remember, your readers want to read something that will take them on an emotional journey,
How to drive a Motif:
A motif is very important in narratives, and obviously in such essays, Well, we would like to point out especially in such essays because these will be the decisive points on which the judges will mark your essays.
A motif is a repeated theme. A theme is the underlying, subtle message that you want to convey through your story, and if some theme comes around over and over again through the instances, situations, or actions and consequences of the characters, it becomes a motif.
Conveying a motif is necessary here because if one does not do that, their essay and hence the abilities they are being judged on will be marked inefficient by the judges. But more important is knowing how to do that. A motif should look organic and not forced. Laying that balance is tough and can only be achieved through practice.
Characterization:
This one is an obvious no-brainer. If you are writing something even remotely similar to a narrative, it will have characters in it. Your characters can be fictional or derived from real life. But keep in mind that your characters should behave like characters, and not just traits.
Writing well-rounded characters is very important as it grounds the reader into the story and ups the emotional quotient manifold.
One way to do it is to plan the character arcs out in the beginning and give every character a valid reason to be in the story. They should not be there just for the sake of it, as it annoys the readers and makes the story less thought out.
How to end:
This is another and possibly the biggest no-brainer skill one should know. Here is also a different one should draw while writing a narrative and narrative essay. A narrative or a short story or any story is your personal expression and you can choose to end it any way you feel like, given it makes sense and is true to what story you have been trying to tell.
However, in the case of an essay, remember that it is being judged. And the ending is the last thing one will read in that essay of yours. An ending should be satisfactory enough that it leaves a good taste in the eyes of those who are marking your essay. This will get you better grades.
If you are having some trouble with your essay writing, you can reach out to your essay writing services. Many services like TutorBin will write your essay for you at reasonable rates, whether it is a narrative essay or some other essay.
They will provide you with 100 percent original work on your deadline by people who are experts in the subject.
