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In this guide, I’ll share 30 examples that have not only influenced my work but have the power to elevate yours, too. These are snippets of made-up stories, each demonstrating a key aspect of storytelling. Read through these narrative writing examples to find the ones that speak to you.
Apr 13, 2021 · 5 Narrative Writing Examples. Learn exactly what narrative writing is, as well as examples of different types of narrative writing. Let’s talk about how to take your next writing project from good to great—whether you’re working on a personal narrative essay, a poem, or something entirely different.
- “Only Disconnect” by Gary Shteyngart
- “Why I Hate Mother's Day” by Anne Lamott
- “The Crane Wife” by CJ Hauser
- “The Trash Heap Has Spoken” by Carmen Maria Machado
- “Am I Disabled?” by Joanne Limburg
- “Living Like Weasels” by Annie Dillard
- “Love in Our Seventies” by Ellery Akers
- “Drinking Chai to Savannah” by Anjali Enjeti
- “Siri Tells A Joke” by Debra Gwartney
Personal narratives don’t have to be long to be effective, as this thousand-word gemfrom the NYT book review proves. Published in 2010, just as smartphones were becoming a ubiquitous part of modern life, this piece echoes many of our fears surrounding technology and how it often distances us from reality. In this narrative, Shteyngart navigates Man...
The author of the classic writing text Bird by Bird digs into her views on motherhood in this piece from Salon. At once a personal narrative and a cultural commentary, Lamott explores the harmful effects that Mother’s Day may have on society—how its blind reverence to the concept of motherhood erases women’s agency and freedom to be flawed human be...
Days after breaking off her engagement with her fiance, CJ Hauser joins a scientific expedition on the Texas coast researching whooping cranes. In this new environment, she reflects on the toxic relationship she left and how she found herself in this situation. She pulls together many seemingly disparate threads, using the expedition and the Japane...
The films and TV shows of the 80s and 90s—cultural touchstones that practically raised a generation—hardly ever featured larger women on screen. And if they did, it was either as a villain or a literal trash heap. Carmen Maria Machado grew up watching these cartoons, and the absence of fat women didn’t faze her. Not until puberty hit and she went f...
The titular question frames the narrative of Joanne Limburg’s essayas she considers the implications of disclosing her autism. What to some might seem a mundane occurrence—ticking ‘yes’, ‘no’, or ‘prefer not to say’ on a bureaucratic form—elicits both philosophical and practical questions for Limburg about what it means to be disabled and how disab...
While out on a walk in the woods behind her house, Annie Dillard encounters a wild weasel. In the short moment when they make eye contact, Dillard takesan imaginary journey through the weasel’s mindand wonders if the weasel’s approach to life is better than her own. The weasel, as Dillard sees it, is a wild creature with jaws so powerful that when ...
“And sometimes, when I lift the gray hair at the back of your neck and kiss your shoulder, I think, This is it.” In under 400 words, poet Ellery Akers captures the joy she has found in discovering romance as a 75-year-old. The language is romantic, but her imagery is far from saccharine as she describes their daily life and the various states in wh...
On a trip to Savannah with her friends, Anjali Enjeti is reminded of a racist incident she experienced as a teenager. The memory is prompted by her discomfort of traveling in Georgia as a South Asian woman and her friends’ seeming obliviousness to how others view them. As she recalls the tense and traumatic encounter she had in line at a Wendy’s an...
One day, Debra Gwartney asks Siri—her iPhone’s digital assistant—to tell her a joke. In reply, Siri recites a joke with a familiar setup about three men stuck on a desert island. When the punchline comes, Gwartney reacts not with laughter, but with a memory of her husband, who had died less than six months prior. In a short period, Gwartney goes th...
- SETTING THE SCENE: THE WHERE AND THE WHEN. The story’s setting often answers two of the central questions in the story, namely, the where and the when.
- CASTING THE CHARACTERS: THE WHO. Now that your student has created a believable world, it is time to populate it with believable characters. In short stories, these worlds mustn’t be overpopulated beyond what the student’s skill level can manage.
- NO PROBLEM? NO STORY! HOW CONFLICT DRIVES A NARRATIVE. This is often the area apprentice writers have the most difficulty with. Students must understand that without a problem or conflict, there is no story.
- THE NARRATIVE CLIMAX: HOW THINGS COME TO A HEAD! The climax of the story is the dramatic high point of the action. It is also when the struggles kicked off by the problem come to a head.
Jun 29, 2024 · From the depths of compelling narrative essays to the heights of narrative poems, these examples are treasure troves of descriptive language, vivid descriptions, and sensory details designed to breathe life into your writing.
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Jul 24, 2020 · Learn how to tell a story in a clear and interesting way with a narrative essay. See an interactive example of a narrative essay and get tips on choosing a topic, structure and language.
Looking for a narrative essay sample to inspire your writing? Check out our analysis of 3 great personal narrative essay examples, plus tips for writing.
